Powerball Promise

Our report, Uncovering the Tripwires to Postsecondary Success, highlighted the birthright lottery -- the set of socioeconomic and family factors impacting a student’s ability to access and complete college -- and our team learned about a policy that entrenched that inequity even further. 

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All revenues of the Kentucky lottery were meant to go towards the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship, the College Access Program and Kentucky Tuition Grant, but years of diversion meant that nearly one-quarter of the funds were slipping out. While KEES remained supported, CAP and KTG, two need-based scholarships, were chronically underfunded. Two-thirds of eligible students were denied. 

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Our team started the Powerball Promise campaign to push the state legislature to restore all $34 million that had been diverted and to support Kentucky students. In coalition with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy and through a combination of op-eds, lobbying meetings, and rallies in the Capitol, our team saw success. $14 million of this money was restored. 

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The restoration impacted 8,000 Kentucky students, ensuring greater college accessibility and proving students can impact their own education.