Georgia: Lottery scholarship dollars have reshaped the college landscape

Monday, May 13, 2024 3:42 PM
  • Mike Tierney, Lottery Geeks

Thanks to fellow Georgians’ eagerness to play a state-operated game of risk, Jordan Madden attends a reputable university free of charge.

Without it, Madden figures he would be enrolled at a community college or a more affordable, lower-level school. Instead, he stands one year away from a degree in public policy at Georgia State in Atlanta.

Picking up the tab for him and scores of other in-state students are purchasers of tickets sold by the Georgia Lottery. It is the rare state where all lottery proceeds are channeled toward schooling — primarily in the form of the HOPE college scholarship for undergraduates, which is widely considered the nation’s gold standard for such aid.