Many, many college students in Tennessee apparently benefit a great deal from the state’s HOPE Scholarship, which is funded by the state lottery. According to an article by Tom Smith in the Times Daily:
Since the lottery began in January 2004, $1.77 billion has been raised for education, according to Kym Gerlock, vice president of communications for the Tennessee Education Lottery. In July, she said the lottery transferred $288.87 million to education that was generated from 2009-10 lottery sales.
More than 100,000 students have benefited from lottery-funded scholarships, according to Robert Biggers, of the Tennessee Student Assistance Cooperation.
Tennessee’s HOPE, one of several college scholarships funded by state lotteries, provides $4,000 a year for students attending four-year colleges and $2,000 a year for students attending two-year schools.
The scholarship, however, has not kept pace with the rising cost of tuition at Tennessee colleges. In 2007-08 the $4,000 scholarship paid for an average 77 percent of tuition. This year the scholarship (still $4,000) will cover an average 63 percent of tuition.
The Tennessee lottery generates about $5 million in sales every week. [Image via]
