The Arkansas Lottery was established to fund college scholarships, but only 16-17 cents of every dollar the Lottery makes actually goes to students. Watch this video to find out more.
Yesterday the Arkansas Lottery released its financial report for the month of April.
The reports show the Arkansas Lottery took in more than $42 million, but paid out less than $7.2 million in scholarship funding. That’s about 17% of the Lottery’s total revenue for the month.
Since last July the Arkansas Lottery has grossed nearly $422.4 million, but only 16 – 17 cents of every dollar it made has been budgeted for students. The rest is being spent on salaries, prizes, contract fees, advertising, and other expenses.
Right now it appears the Arkansas Lottery is on track to pay $85 – $90 million for scholarships this year. That’s $10 – $15 million shy of the amount lottery proponents told us students would receive every year back in 2008.
Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue and scholarship spending so far this fiscal year.
| Month | Gross Lottery Revenue | Paid to Scholarships | % Gross Revenue |
| July | $36,885,396.81 | $6,661,762.99 | 18.1% |
| August | 49,320,459.23 | 8,912,741.54 | 18.1% |
| September | 36,405,731.14 | 6,755,333.93 | 18.6% |
| October | 39,802,740.53 | 5,667,305.74 | 14.2% |
| November | 36,186,107.78 | 6,691,228.00 | 18.5% |
| December | 44,716,219.32 | 6,583,355.77 | 14.7% |
| January, 2018 | 44,063,056.11 | 8,230,861.00 | 18.7% |
| February | 39,389,927.57 | 5,947,647.50 | 15.1% |
| March | 53,523,320.61 | 7,945,570.02 | 14.8% |
| April | 42,064,194.78 | 7,192,997.10 | 17.1% |
| Total | $422,357,153.88 | $70,588,803.59 | 16.7% |
Yesterday the Arkansas Lottery released its financial report for the month of March.
The report shows the Arkansas Lottery took in more than $53.5 million last month, but paid out less than $8 million for scholarships — not even 15 cents of every dollar it made.
March was the Arkansas Lottery’s best month since January of 2016, but the college scholarships the lottery is supposed to fund still drew the short straw. In fact, since last July the Lottery has awarded only 16.7% of its revenue to the state’s scholarship fund. That’s pathetic.
As we have said time and time again, the Lottery doesn’t have a revenue problem; its priorities are out of whack. Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue so far this fiscal year.
| Month | Gross Lottery Revenue | Paid to Scholarships | % Gross Revenue |
| July | $36,885,396.81 | $6,661,762.99 | 18.1% |
| August | 49,320,459.23 | 8,912,741.54 | 18.1% |
| September | 36,405,731.14 | 6,755,333.93 | 18.6% |
| October | 39,802,740.53 | 5,667,305.74 | 14.2% |
| November | 36,186,107.78 | 6,691,228.00 | 18.5% |
| December | 44,716,219.32 | 6,583,355.77 | 14.7% |
| January, 2018 | 44,063,056.11 | 8,230,861.00 | 18.7% |
| February | 39,389,927.57 | 5,947,647.50 | 15.1% |
| March | 53,523,320.61 | 7,945,570.02 | 14.8% |
| Total | $380,292,959.10 | $63,395,806.49 | 16.7% |