ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced Thursday that the Georgia Lottery Corp. raised $1,540,868,000 for education in fiscal year 2026. These funds support programs such as Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program.
This marks the 11th consecutive year the Georgia Lottery has surpassed $1 billion in profits for education, exceeding fiscal year 2025 profits by $69.5 million. The fiscal year 2026 contributions bring the total transferred to the State Treasury’s Lottery for Education Account to more than $31.3 billion since the lottery’s inception in 1993.
Kemp highlighted the lottery’s impact on education funding in Georgia.
“The Georgia Lottery has generated $11.48 billion in proceeds for the HOPE Scholarship and our Pre-K Program over the last eight years,” Kemp said. He added that this funding, along with historic education investments, the restoration of the HOPE program to 100% tuition coverage and the removal of the institutional fee, helps keep quality education affordable and accessible in Georgia.
Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin expressed gratitude for the strong performance in fiscal year 2026.
“Fiscal year 2026 was an exceptionally strong year and we are grateful to Gov. Kemp, the legislature, our board of directors and advisory boards, as well as our lottery retailers, vendors, partners, employees and players,” Corbin said. She also noted that every ticket purchased represents an investment in Georgia’s students and families who benefit from the lottery-funded programs.
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery has returned more than $31.3 billion to the state for education. More than 2.3 million students have received the HOPE Scholarship and more than 2.2 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.
Adding to the fiscal year’s success, the Georgia Lottery celebrated its largest prize winner in history. A $983 million Mega Millions jackpot was won in Newnan in November and claimed in January.
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