While it is an understatement to say much has changed this fall for our students, one welcome constant remains: High schoolers are still earning – and our college students are still spending – money provided by the state lottery.
The most well-known of the programs helping them is KEES, which stands for Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship and is determined by a student’s grades in high school and his or her ACT score. The College Access Program Grant and the Kentucky Tuition Grant, meanwhile, are need-based grants that students use to attend public and private postsecondary school.
More than a generation has passed since these programs began, and they’ve cut college costs for families by almost $4 billion over that timeframe.
During our lottery’s first decade, most of the state proceeds were deposited in what we call the General Fund, which drives our budget. We also provided $30 million for recognition bonuses to Vietnam veterans, and other programs like affordable housing and literacy development received millions of dollars as well.
Although more than half of the General Fund is dedicated to education, the public routinely asked why all lottery proceeds weren’t dedicated to schools.
Their call was heard in the late 1990s, when the General Assembly created the KEES, KTG and CAP programs. Now, one in five of our citizens has used at least one, according to Kentucky Lottery officials.
Late last month, lottery officials said sales were up 6.5 percent for the fiscal year that ended in June. July’s sales were off to a significant start – an increase of 46 percent when compared to the same month in 2019.
It’s unlikely that pace will continue in the months ahead, but it strongly indicates there will be additional resources available to help students attend college in the years to come. The more money available for KEES, KTG and CAP, the easier it is to continue the trend that has seen our postsecondary enrollment jump over the past two decades.
