North Carolina Education Lottery Fund

Dedicated Funding Streams & Financing

  • Revenue

North Carolina

In 2006, the North Carolina State Lottery was established and signed into law by the state legislature. The lottery proceeds include an Education Lottery Fund (about 20% of the overall proceeds), a portion of which is dedicated to Pre-K. In fiscal year 2022, 7.4% of lottery revenue, or just under $69 million, was directed toward funding preschool in the state.

Source: North Carolina Education Lottery. (2022). History of Lottery Fund Assignment.

Connections to Key Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H) Findings:

Stable, robust funding is essential to expanding and improving early education. Unlike K-12 education, early education has historically been supported through a fragmented – and largely insufficient – set of federal, state, and local funds. Research suggests there is a need for more accessible, affordable, and high-quality approach to early education across the mixed-delivery system – and for better financial and professional supports for the educators who serve children and families each day; creating dedicated funding streams can therefore help states and cities address these needs and achieve these goals.

Findings from the Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H) show:

  • Families rely on a range of formal (e.g., Head Start, center-based care, public pre-K) and more informal (e.g., home-based, relative care) early education settings; when choosing a setting for their child, families balance many logistical constraints and personal preferences.
  • But for many families – and especially low- and middle-income families – early education choices remain tightly constrained due to issues of affordability and supply.
  • No one early education setting type is inherently of higher quality than another; children develop and learn well in every setting type, and in the study, all setting types showed room to grow in quality.
  • Early educators play a critical role in supporting the well-being of young children and families across setting types.
  • Yet their pay, benefits, and other professional supports are often inadequate in light of the job demands and their cost of living.

 

Learn More about ELS@H Findings

Learn more about North Carolina

Context matters. Visit the North Carolina profile page to learn more about its demographics, political landscape, early education programs, early education workforce, and funding sources and streams.

Visit the North Carolina Profile Here
  • The state population is 10,698,973
  • The percentage of children under 6 with all available parents in the workforce is 66%
  • The rural percentage is 33.3%