The CyberLearning Digital Literacy Grant helps K-12 school districts, workforce programs, and community-based organizations bring structured digital-literacy instruction to learners who need it — at no cost or low cost. The grant is designed around IC3 (Internet and Computing Core Curriculum), which is recognized as the baseline digital-literacy standard in all 50 U.S. states.
Why Digital Literacy Still Matters
Digital literacy is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ classroom topic — it is an employability baseline, a civic-engagement baseline, and an online-safety baseline. Students who cannot manage files, write a simple email, evaluate an online source, and protect their accounts arrive under-prepared for high-school coursework, standardized tests, and the early-career job market. The IC3 curriculum exists precisely to close that gap in a structured, measurable way.
What the Grant Covers
Awarded students receive 24/7 online access to the IC3 course for the full academic year, plus progress dashboards for teachers and administrators. Districts pay a subsidized per-student registration fee; the tuition itself is covered by the grant. The subsidized fee is further reduced for schools with higher free / reduced-lunch eligibility rates, so pricing scales with the community the school is serving.
IC3 Course Structure
The IC3 curriculum is organized around three modules:
- Computing Fundamentals — hardware, operating systems, software, and file management
- Key Applications — word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and everyday productivity workflows
- Living Online — browsers, email, digital communication, online safety, privacy, and responsible use
Highlights
- Students who complete the course successfully can receive a course-completion certificate from the State University of New York (SUNY) at no additional cost
- Content is aligned to state digital-literacy testing standards nationwide
- Integrates with existing K-12 LMS environments (Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, Blackboard, Google Classroom) via LTI 1.3 launch
- Compliant with FERPA / COPPA and state student-data-privacy laws, including New York Education Law § 2-d
- Teacher onboarding and cohort-level reporting are included
Who Should Apply
- K-12 school districts preparing 8th-graders for state digital-literacy testing
- High schools rolling out digital-literacy foundations ahead of CTE or IT pathway coursework
- Alternative-education programs, juvenile-justice academies, and adult-education providers serving learners with interrupted schooling
- Workforce boards and nonprofits running community digital-literacy programs
- Libraries and community-based organizations partnering with schools on extended-learning programming
Stacking and Funding Combinations
Districts typically stack this grant with Title I / Title IV Part A, state digital-equity funding, E-Rate for eligible network services, and CyberLearning Matching Grants when a district commits its own resources. For community-based organizations, the grant commonly pairs with private philanthropy, library-system funding, and local workforce-board dollars.
How to Apply
CyberLearning reviews grant and partnership inquiries on a rolling basis. School districts, administrators, and prospective sponsors should use our contact form with a brief description of the school or district, enrollment and demographic context (particularly free / reduced-lunch eligibility where relevant), and the specific program being considered. A program director will follow up with eligibility confirmation, pricing, and kick-off logistics.
Related Programs
Grants overview · STEM+ Grant · Teacher Training Grant · Adopt-A-School Grant · Workforce Grant · Matching Grants.
Context
The Digital Literacy Grant is among the longest-running CyberLearning K-12 grant programs. It has been offered to school districts across all 50 U.S. states and territories since the original No Child Left Behind mandate for 8th-grade digital literacy testing, and it continues today under state equivalents of that standard. Participating districts use the grant to layer IC3 on top of existing middle-school technology rotations, high-school CTE coursework, and alternative-education programming.
Start the Conversation
Districts, schools, alternative-education programs, and community-based organizations interested in scoping a Digital Literacy Grant engagement should contact CyberLearning. A scoping call typically takes about 30 minutes and ends with a proposed cohort shape plus a funding-mix sketch.