Lottery HOPEfuls assisting in funding Atlanta college students’ education

Even if you don’t win anything when buying a lottery ticket, some of that money will go to providing a windfall for Georgia students.

The lottery funds the HOPE Scholarship, which helps pay tuition at in-state colleges and universities, and HOPE programs cover about 90% of tuition at most institutions. Lottery proceeds also pay for pre-kindergarten programs.

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“All lotteries are set up for a beneficiary,” said Gretchen Corbin, the chief executive officer of the Georgia Lottery Corporation. “In the state of Georgia, it has always been education.”

Walk the streets of Georgia State University, and you’ll likely meet students who earned the HOPE Scholarship. Imani Jalloh, of Stockbridge, is one of them. “I wouldn’t be able to go to college without it,” she said.

Zander Byman, of Johns Creek, said he didn’t even know the lottery-funded the scholarship that he received. “It takes the burden off my parents and grandparents, and even myself,” he said. “It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to study at Georgia State.”

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State officials said since Georgia launched the lottery in 1993, it has pumped $25 billion into education programs.

More than 2 million students have tapped into the HOPE Scholarship to cover tuition costs.

“We know the HOPE scholarship is incredibly important to our Georgia students,” Corbin said. “They worked hard for it, and then when they go into technical college or university systems, they have the ability to receive great assistance with their tuition.”

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In order to qualify for the HOPE scholarship, a student must have a 3.0 grade point average in high school and maintain that through college. Since the program began, officials said, the lottery has generated $13 billion for the HOPE scholarship.

“Buy as many lottery tickets as you want, it’s an awesome scholarship,” said Sidney Stephens, a Georgia State student from Savannah. “They’re helping people get their education and get their degree and everything. I mean, that’s awesome, that’s really cool.”

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