The SC Education Lottery legislation, states that “proceeds of lottery games must be used to support improvements and enhancements for educational purposes and programs as provided by the General Assembly and that the net proceeds must be used to supplement, not supplant, existing resources for educational purposes and programs.”  Each year, the Legislature decides how lottery funds are appropriated.

Since the start of the Lottery on January 7, 2002, the Legislature has appropriated more than $5.4 billion through Fiscal Year 2018-19.  Lottery funds have been used to support a variety of educational programs. Here is a summary:

Lottery Dollars Appropriated to Date* 

* Dollar figures for all charts are in millions and incorporate the period January 7, 2002–June 30, 2019. Information provided by the Executive Budget Office, Department of Administration. When the Lottery ‘takes’ in a dollar, how is it spent? Read more...

The South Carolina Education Lottery is not responsible for distributing the funds raised by the Lottery. This responsibility belongs to the State. To see how funds are divided, please visit the Executive Budget Office, Department of Administration's chart of Education Lottery Appropriations at www.admin.sc.gov/budget/education-lottery.