Sprint To Provide Connectivity To 180,000 Low-Income High School Students

A new school year year is about to begin, but for those households who can not afford to avail of wireless service, at least for their members who are studying in high school, it is going to be extra tough for their kids to complete school work that requires Internet research. Thankfully, the fourth biggest wireless carrier in the United States is doing something about it.

Through its Sprint Foundation, the company is launching the first initiative of its 1Million Project. True to its name, the 1Million Project has a mission to provide free connectivity, as well wireless equipment, to high school kids from low income households so that they will can minimize the so-called “Homework Gap.” For those not familiar with the term, it refers to the disparity between kids who can complete their homework easier because of readily available Internet access in their homes and those kids that unfortunately can not afford the same access.

The fact of the matter is -- in this day and age, around 70 percent of high school teachers in the country assign homework that requires students to go online. While it is good for the current educational system to take full advantage of what the information superhighway has to offer, it is worth remembering that over 5 million families in the US can not always afford to have Internet at home.

But through Sprint’s 1Million Project, qualified kids get a chance to get connected and be able to narrow the Homework Gap. What the project is planning to do basically is provide telecommunications and connectivity for free to low income homes. The program will span five years, and for its first year (which will cover the 2017-2018 school year), it is aiming to equip 180,000 high school students across 32 states in the country. 

Each of those 180,000 kids will be getting a free mobile device (a smartphone, a tablet, or a hotspot device), as well as 3 gigabytes of high speed LTE data every month for up to four years while they are still attending high school. Unlimited data, however, will be made available at 2G connection speeds if the student breaches the monthly 3 gigabyte data cap. 

Last January through the end of the last school year (2016-2017), Sprint had piloted the program, granting connectivity to 3,750 high school kids across 10 markets. It goes without saying that the pilot program was a success, and based on a survey conducted on the students who took part in the program, 86 percent claimed that the mobile operator’s 1Million Project had improved their outlook on school and education, and most importantly, allowed them to complete their homework in the comfort of their homes (as homework should be). 82 percent of those surveyed also stated that the pilot had might have contributed in increasing their chances of finishing high school, and even pursue a college degree (according to 80 percent of those polled).