USDA Rural Development Distance Learning & Telemedicine Grants (FY 2026)

USDA Rural Development Distance Learning & Telemedicine Grants (FY 2026)

This page is a historical reference for the completed FY 2026 Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant cycle administered by USDA Rural Development through the Rural Utilities Service. The official USDA program page now labels the application window Closed and says the agency is not currently accepting applications because of funding constraints. The FY 2026 Grants.gov listing records the closing date as June 30, 2026, and the application guide required electronic submission by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on that date.

No subsequent DLT funding round is announced on the verified USDA program page. Do not treat this entry as an open call, and do not submit a late FY 2026 application. The metadata retains the completed round’s real deadline so that the archive remains useful without presenting an invented future date.

FY 2026 facts at a glance

What the DLT program is designed to do

DLT grants help rural communities use telecommunications to connect people with education, training, and medical services that may otherwise be difficult to reach. The FY 2026 program was not a general-purpose technology grant and was not intended to pay for ordinary office equipment. A proposed system needed identifiable rural hubs, end-user sites, or hub/end-user sites and a clear connection between the funded technology and distance learning or telemedicine.

The FY 2026 guide described eligible purposes in five broad categories. Applicants could acquire and install eligible equipment by purchase or lease, with lease costs during the three-year grant life eligible. Examples included computer hardware and software, interactive audio and video equipment, computer networking components, telecommunications and data terminal equipment, inside wiring, project-related cybersecurity software, interactive patient-monitoring equipment, devices that transmit images for diagnosis, training simulators, and directly related video-conferencing licenses. A computer or other device was not automatically eligible merely because it was useful to a school or clinic; the application had to show how it would deliver education or medical care to remote end users through telecommunications.

Applicants could also request eligible extended warranties, site licenses, and maintenance contracts purchased with the equipment and limited to the permitted period. Instructional programming could qualify when it was a capital asset or a market offering, but the guide excluded renewals, ordinary tuition, per-course fees, and general classroom equipment. Development or acquisition of instructional programming had to be performed through an independent third party rather than the applicant’s own employees.

Technical assistance and instruction for using eligible equipment and related software were eligible, as were certain engineering or environmental studies connected to the funded project phase. This category could not exceed 10% of the requested grant amount. Broadband facilities were eligible only when owned by the applicant, used to provide distance learning or telemedicine, and kept within the guide’s 20% limit on the requested grant amount.

The guide also listed important exclusions. The grant could not pay medical or educational equipment whose essential function was not telemedicine or distance learning, electronic medical-record systems, salaries or benefits for medical or educational personnel, applicant or project administrative salaries, land, buildings, construction, vehicles, general office equipment, ordinary recurring operating expenses, or application-preparation costs. Broadband connection fees and other recurring expenses were not made eligible simply because they supported a connected project. These boundaries matter when using the FY 2026 materials as a planning reference for a future round.

Who could apply in FY 2026

The FY 2026 application guide required an applicant to be legally organized and able to contract with the Rural Utilities Service. It identified incorporated organizations, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, state or local units of government, consortia, and other legal entities, including private corporations organized on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis. The Grants.gov opportunity further categorized eligible applicants as small businesses; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; special district, county, city or township, and state governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status.

Eligibility was not satisfied by organizational form alone. The applicant also had to operate a rural community facility or deliver distance learning or telemedicine services to an entity operating such a facility or to rural residents, at rates designed to pass the benefit of the assistance through to those facilities or residents. Equipment vendors, manufacturers, system integrators, and similar businesses could not use the program as a general sales or deployment subsidy merely because their products would appear in a project budget.

The rurality test applied to the service locations. The FY 2026 guide described the program’s intent as benefiting areas with populations of 20,000 or less that are not contiguous to urban areas with populations over 50,000. A project serving a rural facility therefore needed site-level evidence, not just a broad statement that the applicant operated somewhere outside a major city. The application materials called for the locations of hubs, end-user sites, and hub/end-user sites, along with the number of rural residents served at each relevant site. Projects proposing only universally available web-based services were ineligible because they lacked a defined service area and could reach urban beneficiaries as well.

Consortia were possible, but the FY 2026 guide distinguished formal and informal arrangements. A formal consortium with legal capacity to contract could apply in its own name and take responsibility for the project. An informal consortium involved multiple entities sharing grant responsibilities and asset ownership; one entity had to act as fiscal agent and applicant, while each participating entity contracted with RUS on its own behalf. A group could not describe itself as an informal consortium while having one applicant assume all responsibility and own all equipment without making the required structure explicit.

Match, award size, and project duration

The FY 2026 opportunity offered awards from $50,000 through $750,000, with approximately $27 million available and 40 expected awards listed in the Grants.gov record. It was a grant-only, nationally competitive program. USDA’s program page and the application guide required a minimum 15% match, and the match could not come from another federal source.

The match had to support eligible purposes and be documented. Cash was a common approach, but qualifying in-kind contributions could also be used when they were new or non-depreciated assets, integral and necessary to the DLT project, and assigned a defensible value. The guide required supporting letters for many external contributions and warned that undocumented or ineligible match could reduce the credited amount below the required threshold. Vendor discounts, donated licenses that had no independent value, and equipment already operational before submission were not safe substitutes for documented project match.

Awardees were given a three-year performance period beginning on the date funds were released. That period did not turn the grant into a general operating subsidy. A credible project plan still needed to identify who would own the equipment, how the network would be used, who would support users, and how the funded system would continue serving rural residents during the performance period.

What the FY 2026 application required

The cycle is closed, but the FY 2026 guide gives a concrete record of what applicants had to assemble. A future announcement may change the forms or requirements, so these steps should be treated as historical guidance rather than a promise about a later round.

1. Establish registrations and authority. Applicants needed a Unique Entity Identifier and an active SAM.gov registration before applying through Grants.gov. The registration also needed the required Financial Assistance Representations and Certifications. The legal name and UEI had to belong to the applicant, not a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate. The guide warned that new registrations and updates could take time, so waiting until the closing date was risky.

2. Complete the federal application form. The required Standard Form 424 was submitted through Grants.gov. The applicant’s authorized representative had to identify the legal entity that would own and operate the project. Attachments had to be added through the SF-424 Block 15 attachment function.

3. Describe every project site. The application had to identify hubs, end-user sites, and hub/end-user sites, state where each site was located, and explain the rural residents served. Site naming and classifications had to stay consistent across the narrative, worksheets, budget, and supporting documents.

4. Explain need and expected benefit. The package included an executive summary and documentation for rurality, economic need, and service needs and benefits. Applicants needed a specific account of the education, training, or healthcare access problem, the people affected, the service connection to each site, and the result the proposed system was expected to produce.

5. Build the technical and financial package. The listed sections included the match calculation, scope of work, financial information and sustainability, statement of experience, telecommunications system plan, compliance with other federal statutes, evidence of legal existence and authority to contract, environmental impact and historic preservation information, consultation with the USDA State Director, and supplemental information. The budget needed to separate grant-funded items, cash match, and in-kind contributions and keep each item within the eligible-purpose rules.

6. Submit electronically and on time. FY 2026 applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 30, 2026. The guide stated that applications would not be accepted on paper or by email. Incomplete applications were not considered for funding review, and complete applications were scored under the criteria in the notice, guide, and program materials.

Because USDA now marks the window closed and says it is not accepting applications due to funding constraints, these steps cannot reopen FY 2026. They are retained so organizations preparing for a possible future notice can understand the level of documentation the completed cycle required and can check the official materials for any replacement cycle.

How to use this page now

Treat the official USDA DLT page as the status source. It retains the FY 2026 notice of funding opportunity, application guide, sample worksheets, checklist, webinar materials, and other program resources, while clearly displaying that the application window is closed. The Grants.gov record is useful for the archived opportunity number, award range, estimated program funding, expected awards, eligibility categories, and closing date. The application guide is the controlling reference for the FY 2026 submission mechanics and attachment list.

There is no verified next deadline in the current official materials. Do not change the metadata to “rolling” or copy the completed deadline into a future cycle: the program page explicitly says applications are not currently being accepted. Do not infer that a later fiscal-year round will use the same amount, eligibility language, match treatment, or submission requirements. Before preparing a new application, confirm that USDA has posted a new notice, download the new guide and checklist, and verify the Grants.gov opportunity number and closing date.

For questions about a future DLT opportunity, USDA directs applicants to its Contact Us form with “Distance Learning & Telemedicine Program” selected as the subject, or to the applicable Rural Development General Field Representative. The official program page also identifies 7 CFR Part 1734 as governing the program. Those contacts and the regulation are more reliable than an old project template when a future call is announced.

Official sources

• USDA Rural Development Distance Learning & Telemedicine Grants — current program status, FY 2026 resources, funding terms, eligible uses, and contact instructions.
• FY 2026 DLT Grants opportunity listing — archived Grants.gov data for RUS-26-01-DLT, including the June 30, 2026 close, award range, estimated funding, expected awards, and applicant categories.
• FY 2026 DLT Application Guide — submission deadline, registrations, eligibility requirements, eligible and ineligible costs, match documentation, and required application sections.