Proceeds to Education More than $6 Billion to the Students of Georgia!
In accordance with the Georgia Lottery for Education Act and the Georgia Constitution, proceeds from lottery sales have been used to solely fund the following educational programs: Tuition grants, scholarships or loans to undergraduate college students and teachers who seek advanced degrees in critical areas of need; Voluntary prekindergarten program; Technology grants to train teachers in the use and application of advanced technology and capital outlay projects for educational facilities. Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program: As one of the most successful education initiatives in Georgia history, the HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) Scholarship Program provides Georgia students with tuition, mandatory fees, and a book allowance for attendance at any of Georgia's public colleges, universities or technical colleges. Georgia high school graduates with a "B" average in core-curriculum classes are eligible to receive a HOPE grant. A $3,000 scholarship is awarded to eligible students attending Georgia private colleges/universities. The HOPE PROMISE Teacher Scholarship Program provides tuition assistance to undergraduate students who aspire to be teachers in Georgia’s public schools. The HOPE Teacher Scholarship Program offers tuition assistance to teachers who seek graduate degrees in critical areas of need. Since inception, more than $3.61 billion has been appropriated and distributed to more than 750,000 HOPE Scholarship recipients. Contact: Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program, Georgia Student Finance Commission; 2082 East Exchange Place, Suite 100, Tucker, Georgia 30084; Toll Free 1-800-546-HOPE (4673). Voluntary Prekindergarten: The Georgia Prekindergarten Program provides Georgia's four-year-old students with high quality preschool experiences in order to prepare them for kindergarten. Funding is provided on a competitive basis and is available to school systems, public or private non-profit providers and private for-profit providers. Since inception of the GLC, more than $3 billion has been appropriated to send more than 560,000 four-year-olds to Pre-k programs throughout the state. Contact: The Georgia Pre-kindergarten Program, Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, 10 Park Place South, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30303; (404) 656-5957 or Toll Free 1-888-4GA-PREK. Technology Grants and Capital Outlay projects for educational facilities: From inception to Fiscal Year 2003, more than $1.8 billion was appropriated to capital outlay projects and technology grants for our schools. Funds were used for elementary, middle and high school instructional technology (computer hardware and software, automation of media centers, satellite dishes and/or networking). Also, these funds were used for technology centers to train teachers and administrators in how to incorporate technology into the curriculum and to provide technology and media specialists to support this advanced technology in the schools. These funds provided all Georgia public schools, public libraries, and DTAE institutions with ready access to the Internet. This enabled Georgia’s K-12th grade students to access the resources of Georgia’s university libraries. Funds were used to purchase video surveillance equipment, some exterior lighting and fencing to make Georgia’s schools safer. For information on classroom technology contact: The Georgia Department of Education, 1966 Twin Towers East, Atlanta, Georgia 30334 (404) 656-2521; Fax: (404) 657-6822. For information on school construction projects call The Office of Facilities and Services at (404) 656-2454.