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% |
