How are schools connecting to the Internet?

One of the major determinants of the extent to which schools are able to make use of the Internet is the speed at which they are able to connect. Changes have occurred over the past two years regarding the type of network connections used by public schools and, therefore, the speed at which they are able to connect. In 1996, 74 percent of public schools with Internet access were connecting using dial-up connections; in 1997, 50 percent of schools were using this type of connection; and in 1998, 22 percent (Figure 2). In 1998, higher speed connections using a dedicated line were used by 65 percent of public schools. This is a continued increase from 1996, when 39 percent of schools were connecting using a dedicated line, and 1997, when 45 percent were so connected. Large schools with Internet access were more likely to connect using a dedicated line than small and medium-sized schools (79 percent compared to 63 and 64 percent, respectively; data not shown). On the other hand, schools in the Northeast were more likely to connect using a dial-up connection than schools in the Central and West regions (34 percent compared to 20 and 17 percent, respectively; data not shown).