STATEWIDE — Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Anthony Neal-Graves announced that the Kids Link Colorado initiative is continuing its efforts to bring affordable high-speed internet access to every classroom. Now, state and school district leaders are taking action toward a new goal of 1 Megabit per second (Mbps) per student in every school.

While 63 school districts in Colorado have already reached this connectivity level, work remains to ensure all students have equitable access to a world of digital learning opportunities. Since 2016, the Office of the Governor and the Colorado Broadband Office within the state’s Office of Information Technology have made great progress in closing the digital divide due to the partnership with the national nonprofit EducationSuperHighway. According to new data released from EducationSuperHighway in its “2018 State of the States” report, 98 percent of Colorado schools are now meeting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) minimum bandwidth goal of 100 kilobits per second (kbps) per student, up 4 percent from last year.

“Access to high-speed broadband is critical for academic success,” said Governor John Hickenlooper. “Any gap in connectivity for any of our students is too much. We look forward to this partnership closing the narrow gaps that remain and seeing all Colorado schools meet the school bandwidth standard of 1 Mbps per student.”

Colorado has also made tremendous strides in making broadband more affordable across the state. The median price for internet access has decreased by 58 percent over the past three years, down to $2.95 per Mbps, which is lower than the national median cost of $3.26.

The progress to close the school broadband gap in Colorado is promising, but 15 schools still need a fiber-optic or scalable broadband connection to meet growing demands for education technology usage. School districts that are not currently on a fiber connection are encouraged to leverage EducationSuperHighway’s technical and procurement support. To learn more, visit educationsuperhighway.org/districts.

“We commend Gov. Hickenlooper and the Colorado Broadband Office for working toward closing the digital divide in Colorado classrooms,” said Evan Marwell, Founder and CEO of EducationSuperHighway. “The reality is that 100 kbps of Internet access is no longer sufficient for many of today’s classrooms. I am pleased that the State of Colorado has demonstrated continued commitment to providing the connectivity that lets educators leverage technology in every classroom, every day.”