Georgia Lottery tops $1.5 billion in profits for education

ATLANTA — The Georgia Lottery raised more than $1.5 billion for education during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Fiscal 2023 marked the eighth consecutive year the lottery surpassed the $1 billion mark in profits for education — specifically the HOPE Scholarships and statewide pre-kindergarten programs — and brought the total transferred to education since the lottery began 30 years ago to more than $26.8 billion.

“With all Georgia Lottery profits benefiting HOPE and Pre-K, these strong results ensure that Georgia’s students and families in every county remain our biggest winners,” said Gretchen Corbin, president and CEO of the Georgia Lottery Corp.

During the last fiscal year, Scratchers and iLottery sales reached record highs. Mega Millions and Powerball played a huge role in lottery sales as well, with four of the top 10 jackpots in U.S. history occurring during the year.

More than 2.1 million students have received lottery-funded HOPE scholarships since the program’s inception, while more than 2 million 4-year-olds have attended voluntary pre-kindergarten classes.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat News Service.