Cybersecurity Policy Report, Nonprofit Appeals Denial of Cybersecurity Pilot Program Funding, (Aug 20, 2026)

By Jeff Williams

Tri-County Community Action, Inc., has appealed a June 30 decision by the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) that completely denied the company’s request for Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program funding after determining that some equipment and/or services included in its request fell outside the scope of the pilot eligible services list (P-ESL).

In a filing posted in the FCC’s electronic comment filing system, Tri-County said it “respectfully submits that there was a reasonable basis for requesting Pilot support for the proposed endpoint cybersecurity solution based upon the Commission’s broad and functional eligibility framework, the express inclusion of Endpoint Protection, and the P-ESL’s specific identification of TPM [trusted platform modules] and products with TPM chips.”

In addition to a reversal of the complete denial of its request for a total of $30,935.70, Tri-County asked for “an opportunity to identify, document, cost allocate, and obtain Pilot support for any eligible cybersecurity-specific portion of the competitively bid solution.”

Tri-County said it was seeking reconsideration “because the requested solution was consistently presented as an endpoint cybersecurity solution containing functionality expressly contemplated by the P-ESL, including TPM-based security and endpoint protection.”

The company also acknowledged that it filed the appeal outside the Commission’s 30-day appeal window for the program and noted that it concurrently filed a request seeking a waiver of that deadline.

“The late filing resulted from an inadvertent reliance on the 60-day appeal period applicable to the longstanding E-Rate program rather than the shorter 30-day period adopted specifically for the new Cybersecurity Pilot Program,” Tri-County said.

News: FederalLegislation DataSecurity