Project 10Million: Working to connect every student

Project 10Million is an initiative aimed at delivering internet connectivity to millions of underserved student households at no cost to them. Partnering with school districts across the country, the program offers free high-speed data and free mobile hotspots—and access to at-cost laptops and tablets.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has made hybrid learning the new norm for millions of students across the U.S., the Un-carrier will continue to enhance Project 10Million to offer more low-cost data options, including unlimited, for school districts to pass on to student households at no cost to them. Each eligible student can still get the 100GB/year plan for FREE OR their school district can apply for our 100GB per month plan—which has about 3x the data we saw used by students at the start of the pandemic.

And we’re offering schools a low-cost unlimited option, too. All options are available on our biggest and best network ever—completely free for students!

School districts can apply on behalf of their students to participate. Project 10Million offers 100GBs/year of free data, free mobile hotspots and access to at-cost laptops and tablets, to students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)—one per household. Districts can identify and qualify students as being eligible NSLP-participants.

Or, districts can utilize proof of enrollment in other qualified government programs such as (but not limited to):
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) via P-EBT or EBT
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
- Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
- Medicaid
- Head Start
- Foster youth, migrant, homeless, or runaway youth

We will continue to enhance Project 10Million to offer at-cost data options, including unlimited, for school districts to pass on to all of their students at no cost to them.

Note: Students or parents (of students) who wish to enroll should talk to their school administrator (Principal or Counsellor) to see if their school district is participating in Project 10Million.

• If your school district is already signed up, work with your school administrator to see if your child is eligible.
• If your district hasn’t signed up, talk to your school administrator about starting the application process.

Through their school districts, students can get FREE high-speed data, FREE mobile hotspots, and access to at-cost laptops and tablets. And we will also give school districts low-cost data options, including unlimited, for school districts to pass on to all of their students at no cost to them.

It’s easy! School district administrators can submit an Interest Form via the link on this page. A T-Mobile representative will then reach out to schedule a call and walk through the program details and formal application process. Once the application process is complete and the school is officially in the program, our team will work with administrators to identify eligible students and get them connected to service and hotspots they can distribute to their students. 

Hotspots will be available for districts across the entire country, every single year of the program. To help allocate hotspots fairly, the exact number available in each state will vary based on population.

The school will allocate the Franklin Wireless T9 to students. 

Many school districts have a 1:1 program in place that gives students a laptop they can use at home. For those who don’t currently have a device, we will help them get connected to their free hotspot by offering the district an opportunity to purchase a laptop or tablet at our cost—which T-Mobile will ship to the student’s school for free. They can choose from four different devices, all designed for student and educator use.

• Tablet option:
  • The Coolpad Tasker 
     
• Laptop options:
  • Samsung Chromebook 4
  • Lenovo 100e Chromebook 2nd Gen
  • Lenovo 100e Windows PC 2nd Gen

In education, students’ lack of access to reliable connectivity creates a divide between students who have internet access and those who don’t. This homework gap is the difficulty those without reliable connectivity face in completing assignments and communicating with teachers after the school day is done. It creates tremendous short- and long-term impacts: lower test scores, lower grades and limited opportunities after graduation.

As COVID-19 forces up to 50 million students out of the physical classroom and into part- or full-time remote learning, the need for connectivity and greater bandwidth has dramatically increased. What was a homework gap has turned into an even more massive schoolwork gap, when students without internet access are completely left out of learning.

Today, there are about 56 million school-aged kids. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, at least 14% of children across the country ages three through 18—more than 9 million—are without home Internet. In rural America, that percentage increases to 18%.

Yes! Eligible students (one per household) whose schools are enrolled in Project 10Million can get free high-speed Internet access free mobile hotspots to connect to the Internet. Schools also have the option to purchase at-cost laptops and tablets to distribute to eligible students. And we will also give school districts low-cost data options, including unlimited, for school districts to pass on to all of their students at no cost to them.

• Certain non-educational video streaming sites
• Inappropriate websites
• Restricting minors' access to materials deemed harmful to them

Note: Schools have the option to utilize the T-Mobile filtering or secure their own filter that completes their needs.

Access to the Internet equals access to opportunity. In education, studies show that students without reliable access to the Internet outside of school hours consistently receive lower reading, math, and science scores. This changes drastically when students have equal access to connectivity.

A mobile Wi-Fi hotspot turns a cellular data connection into a Wi-Fi connection. The device creates a wireless connection you can use to connect a tablet, smartphone, computer, or another Wi-Fi-enabled device.

With the power of our biggest and best network ever, T-Mobile promises to make reliable connectivity truly accessible to students, including those in both urban centers as well as underserved areas such as rural America where 1.7 million households are lacking high-speed home internet service today.