LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The recent huge Mega Millions jackpot helped the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery post its 3rd-best monthly proceeds since the lottery began in 2009.
On August 8, Lottery Director Eric Hagler announced that the proceeds raised for scholarships for July totaled $12,752,561. According to a press release, the only higher monthly totals came in January 2016 ($14,338,090) and March 2012 ($12,827,373).
“Our mission is to maximize proceeds to scholarships in a responsible way,” Hagler said. “With outstanding sales and revenues, we are doing just that. We have provided more than $1.1 billion for the Academic Challenge Scholarship program, which equates to more than 675,000 scholarships. And that number will increase later this month when the Arkansas Department of Higher Education awards scholarships to Arkansas students for the 2022-23 school year.”
The lottery also helps fund two other scholarships:
- The Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship is available for those attending technical schools. It is for students seeking certifications in high-demand occupations, such as healthcare and information technology.
- The Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Award provides financial incentives to eligible high school students who want to get an early start on college courses.
“We have never deviated from our objective and are proud that more than 92 cents of every dollar raised through the sale of lottery tickets goes to scholarships, prizes, retailer commissions and other expenses,” he said. “The lottery raised $99.7 million in scholarship proceeds during fiscal year 2022 which ended June 30.”
Hagler said the huge $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot helped push sales last month. Every draw game ticket purchased in Arkansas is a win for the state since more money from draw tickets go towards scholarship proceeds, according to the report.