EDUCAUSE Supports House Appropriations Stimulus Bill

January 16, 2009, Washington, D.C.--EDUCAUSE, the association for information technology in higher education, applauds the stimulus bill outlined yesterday by the House Appropriations Committee and in particular the provisions for broadband funding. A fast, affordable broadband infrastructure is critical for the future of the country and higher education's ability to contribute to it. Broadband networks significantly mitigate barriers of cost, time, and geography, making active engagement with advanced teaching, learning, and research activities available to many more students, faculty, institutions, and communities. EDUCAUSE has long argued for expanding broadband infrastructure as a way to extend the benefits of higher education and thus increase economic opportunity and quality of life for all Americans. The bill clearly demonstrates a commitment to achieving those objectives.

The fact that the bill primarily focuses on grant programs is significant. Grants provide the best assurance that the process will lead to specific, measurable deployment of broadband. Likewise, EDUCAUSE commends the foresight the bill indicates by providing additional support for grants to help states identify and develop plans for addressing gaps in broadband service. Areas that have no broadband service certainly need government support, but many markets have minimal service that is not sufficient to allow for effective participation in media-rich online activities, which are increasingly central to online learning, civic engagement, e-commerce, and so forth. Some questions require further discussion, such as: What constitutes "underserved" and what markets will qualify? Can the grants be used to provide service to homes and home-based businesses? However, EDUCAUSE is encouraged by the work achieved thus far and looks forward to supporting efforts to address those issues.

Finally, EDUCAUSE would specifically like to acknowledge the commitment expressed in the bill to basing broadband development on open access principles. As the text notes, "An open-access network will preserve competition while ensuring that the country utilizes to the fullest extent all of its available resources…" EDUCAUSE could not agree more. Preserving unfettered access by network users to what higher education institutions have to offer is critical to ensuring they can fully realize the benefits of higher education’s services and resources. EDUCAUSE plans to work with the committee and others to maintain the focus on open access as the process moves forward.

About EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The current membership comprises more than 2,200 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 250 corporations, with 17,000 active members. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at www.educause.edu.