Digital Divide Grant Program

The Digital Divide Grant Program provided four grants of up to $250,000 each to help fund projects aimed at combating the digital divide. Eligible projects served a beneficiary school located in an urban or rural low-income small school district. The beneficiary school must have a free lunch participation rate of at least 50 percent. Projects may address physical gaps in local broadband networks, affordability, access to personal devices, and digital skills training. Projects must provide a holistic solution, including but not limited to student home broadband connection, student required hardware (e.g., laptop, notebook and/or hotspots), student curriculum focused on the use of technology, software to enable distance learning for student and teacher, and training for teachers in the use of technology for distance learning.

Grant recipients must be a non-profit community-based organization (CBO) with a demonstrated record of work to addressing the digital divide. The CBO will collaborate with a partner public school or district to deploy the project, with the public school or district being the beneficiary of the project. 

Awardee’s

August 10, 2023: CPUC Awards Nearly $1 Million in Grants To Help Close Digital Divide at Schools in Low-Income Urban and Rural Areas (CPUC Press Release)

T-17794 Adopted

Outside the Lens. $250,000

Schools served:

• Monarch School, San Diego.
• San Pasqual Academy, San Diego.
• TBA

Human I-T. $250,000

Schools served:

• Wonderland College Prep Academy Delano, Delano.
• Wonderland College Prep Academy Lost Hills, Lost Hills.

Small School District Association. $249,650.

Schools served:

• Owens Valley Elementary, Independence.
• Owens Valley High, Independence.

Thrive. $249,820.

Schools served:

• Surprise Valley High School, Cedarville.

From Pilot to Permanent 

The Digital Divide Grant Program, on December 5, 2024, became a permanent program for eligible Community Technology Programs. Resolution T-17842 moves the moves the program from a pilot program to a permanent program and announced a new application cycle. 

Resolution T-17842

Application Instructions 

The total grant amount available is $200,000 yearly, on an ongoing basis until funds are exhausted or otherwise discontinued. This Resolution authorizes up to: 

• $100,000 to projects for low-income rural and urban schools,
• and up to two $50,000 awards to projects for Community-Based Organizations (CBOs).
• The source of the funding is the Digital Divide Account.

The grants are aimed at reducing the digital divide in schools and communities located in low-income urban and rural areas by providing necessary resources and access to digital technology. The projects aim to deliver holistic solutions through digital literacy training, take-home devices, and broadband connections.

Detailed application instructions are attached to resolution T-17842 at Appendix A and are also available for download at the DDGP webpage at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/ddgp.  A CBO will submit its completed application, including all required documents, by email to: DigitalDivideGrantProgram@cpuc.ca.gov.

Application Timeline: