Arkansas Lottery Gave 20 Cents on the Dollar to Scholarships in April

Arkansas Lottery

Today the Arkansas Lottery posted its financial report for the month of April.

According to the report, the Arkansas Lottery took in $38.7 million last month, but paid only $7.8 million to scholarships–roughly 20 cents of every dollar it made.

These figures are well below the national average. The typical state lottery pays at least 30% of its gross revenue for its intended purpose. The Arkansas Lottery gave only 20% of its gross revenue to scholarships last month.

Overall this fiscal year, the Arkansas Lottery has spent about 17.4% of its revenue on scholarships. By contrast, the Lottery has spent 68% of its revenue on prizes.

Below is a month-by-month breakdown of the Lottery’s figures.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July 38,237,293.92 8,714,386.39 22.8%
August 35,091,022.09 5,498,714.86 15.7%
September 33,113,391.64 5,773,076.42 17.4%
October 34,061,993.14 5,165,040.54 15.2%
November 37,042,079.72 6,570,979.51 17.7%
December 35,352,159.35 4,596,532.22 13.0%
January, 2017 37,062,291.39 7,947,546.21 21.4%
February 41,176,854.60 6,698,099.62 16.3%
March 43,405,541.56 6,204,704.75 14.3%
April 38,671,617.14 7,845,827.56 20.3%
Total $373,214,244.55 $65,014,908.08 17.4%

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Report: Lottery Scholarship Funding Down From Last Year

Arkansas Lottery

This week the Arkansas Lottery released its financial report for the month of March.

The report shows the Arkansas Lottery took in roughly $43.4 million, but paid out $6.2 million to scholarships–about 14 cents of every dollar.

Overall, despite being the Arkansas Lottery’s most lucrative month this fiscal year, the Lottery’s scholarship budget was very weak.

In fact, lottery scholarship funds are down nearly $3 million so far this fiscal year over this time last year.

Below is a breakdown of the Lottery’s income and scholarship funding since Fiscal Year 2017 began last summer:

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July $38,237,293.92 $8,714,386.39 22.8%
August 35,091,022.09 5,498,714.86 15.7%
September 33,113,391.64 5,773,076.42 17.4%
October 34,061,993.14 5,165,040.54 15.2%
November 37,042,079.72 6,570,979.51 17.7%
December 35,352,159.35 4,596,532.22 13.0%
January, 2017 37,062,291.39 7,947,546.21 21.4%
February 41,176,854.60 6,698,099.62 16.3%
March 43,405,541.56 6,204,704.75 14.3%
Total $334,542,627.41 $57,169,080.52 17.1%

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Lottery Gave 16 Cents on the Dollar to Scholarships in February

Arkansas Lottery

This afternoon the Arkansas Lottery posted its financial report for the month of February.

According to the report, the Arkansas Lottery grossed nearly $41.2 million, but gave less than $6.7 million to scholarships–about 16 cents of every dollar it made.

A new bill filed last week by Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock) would require the Lottery to set aside at least 25% of its gross revenue for scholarships; under that bill, the Arkansas Lottery would have given nearly $10.3 million to scholarships in February.

Unfortunately, the Arkansas Lottery continues to budget a paltry amount of money for scholarships each month. Below is a breakdown of the numbers for Fiscal Year 2017.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July $38,237,293.92 $8,714,386.39 22.8%
August 35,091,022.09 5,498,714.86 15.7%
September 33,113,391.64 5,773,076.42 17.4%
October 34,061,993.14 5,165,040.54 15.2%
November 37,042,079.72 6,570,979.51 17.7%
December 35,352,159.35 4,596,532.22 13.0%
January, 2017 37,062,291.39 7,947,546.21 21.4%
February 41,176,854.60 6,698,099.62 16.3%
Total $291,137,085.85 $50,964,375.77 17.5%

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