The Georgia Lottery Corp.’s annual fiscal year 2017 profit transfer to the State Treasury’s Lottery for Education Account has totaled $1,101,062,911, the largest on record, officials announced. This is the first time the Georgia Lottery has transferred over $1.1 billion in a single fiscal year.
 
The record transfer surpasses last year’s record that was boosted by a world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.
 
“We’re proud of this achievement, especially since we had the support of a massive jackpot the previous fiscal year,” said Debbie D. Alford, president and CEO of the Georgia Lottery. “One of our core values here at the Georgia Lottery is ‘One Team, One Effort.’ This truly was a team collaboration. We are grateful to our employees, players, retailers, business partners and board of directors.”
 
Georgia Lottery players won $2.74 billion in prizes in FY17, and retailers earned over $268 million in commissions.
 
Fiscal year 2017 spanned from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017.
 
The total raised for educational programs in the state of Georgia is more than $18.7 billion since the lottery’s inception in 1993.
 
The $1.1 billion transfer is the largest educational transfer in the lottery’s 24-year history.
 
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $18.7 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.7 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.4 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.