The Michigan Lottery contributed a record $795.5 million to the state School Aid Fund in 2015, pushing its total support for public education since 1972 to more than $19.6 billion.
The previous record contribution from the Lottery was $778.4 million in 2012. The 2015 fiscal year contribution marked the ninth straight year that the Lottery has provided $700 million or more for education in Michigan. For that nine-year span, the Lottery’s contributions total $6.7 billion.
The Michigan Lottery set several major records in 2015:
- $2.8 billion in player purchases, eclipsing the previous mark of $2.6 billion from 2014
- Instant game purchases topped $1 billion for the first time
- $1.7 billion in prizes to players, surpassing the previous record of $1.6 billion in 2014
- $203.6 million in commissions to retailers, breaking the previous mark of $188.5 million set in 2014
For each dollar spent on a Michigan Lottery ticket in 2015:
- 29 cents went to the School Aid Fund
- 61 cents went to prizes for players
- 7 cents went to commissions for retailers, many of them family-owned businesses
- 3 cents support the Lottery’s ongoing operations and administrative costs
Under state law, all net proceeds from Michigan Lottery games go to the state School Aid Fund. The Lottery contributions comprise about 6.5 percent of the fund.
