The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation announced Tuesday it raised $113,820,000 for education in the Volunteer State during the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), which spanned from January 1 through March 31.
“The Lottery is proud to announce this quarter’s results, which reinforce our commitment to funding vital education programs for Tennesseans,” Tennessee Education Lottery President and CEO Rebecca Paul said in a statement.
“Students and families continue to benefit from scholarships, grants and after-school programs funded with Lottery dollars, and we remain diligent in our efforts to raise funds for these important education initiatives,” Paul added.
The lottery’s third-quarter transfer of $113,820,000 for education falls short of its all-time record set in the first quarter of FY24 when a total of $133,372,000 was raised.
All profits left from lottery ticket sales go to pay for multiple educational programs throughout the Volunteer State, including HOPE Scholarships, Wilder-Naifeh grants, Drive to 55 initiatives, such as Tennessee Promise, and others.
The lottery is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, as its first ticket sale took place on January 20, 2004.
Tennessee voters first approved the lottery on a statewide referendum in 2002. In 2003, the Tennessee General Assembly authorized it to operate games and generate funds for specific education programs in the state.
Since its inception 20 years ago, the lottery has returned more than $7.3 billion to the state for education, on top of its $20.2 billion payouts in prizes for players and $1.9 billion in retailer commissions.
In Fiscal Year 2023, the Lottery set a record for the total amount raised for education within a year, as $515,397,000 was raised.
The Lottery said it is “committed to the strategies that drive its success and help achieve its core mission of maximizing funds for education in Tennessee.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
