California Public Schools Benefit

Our mission is to provide supplemental funding to California public schools, which is why they're the Lottery's beneficiary. In fact, 95 cents of every dollar you spend on Lottery games goes back to the community through contributions to public schools and colleges, prizes and retail compensation. And we have you, our players to thank for making it all possible.

Lottery money is unique compared to other education funding sources because schools have a greater say in how it can be used to benefit their students. Watch this video where Long Beach Community College District Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz explains how this inherent flexibility helps students now AND goes on to create a significant impact on the local region they serve

Positively impacting communities across California is just part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, and every member of the Lottery team shares this dedication.

The Lottery has given California public schools more than $41 billion since we began in 1985. We gave approximately $2 billion to public schools in Fiscal Year 2021-22, which is about 1% of the state’s annual budget for public schools. Remember, Lottery funds are meant to supplement public education, not replace state and local funding.

But since our funds are largely discretionary, they help schools do things they otherwise couldn’t, such as attracting and retaining more quality teachers, buying state-of-the-art equipment and keeping critical programs running.

Funding Is Based on Sales

The State Controller’s Office determines how much Lottery funds are dispersed to public education institutions. Lottery funding is based on the Average Daily Attendance (ADA) for K-12 and community college school districts and by full-time enrollment for higher education and other specialized institutions. 

These are the schools that have received funds, along with their percentages of cumulative distributions: