$13 Billion for Education

The North Carolina Education Lottery launched 20 years ago with a great cause: to raise money for education. Fast forward to fiscal year 2026, the lottery set a new record, raising an estimated $1.14 billion for education. That means North Carolina wins an average of $3 million a day for education programs. So far, lottery proceeds have helped build more than 100 new or renovated schools, provided a free preschool education for over 270,000 children, and sent over 1 million students to college with lottery-funded scholarships and grants. As the only lottery in the U.S. to increase sales every year in operation, the impact of lottery dollars continues to grow.