Lottery Scholarship fund may run out by 2014

Powerball lottery ticket prices went up this month, but New Mexico lottery officials said the increased price won’t save the struggling Legislative Lottery Scholarship fund.

Powerball prices jumped from $1 to $2 on Jan. 15, but New Mexico Lottery Authority spokeswoman Linda Hamlin said the increase in revenue will fund bigger jackpots to encourage more New Mexicans to buy tickets and keep the Lottery Authority out of debt.

“We believe the changes in the Powerball game…will help us reach our sales and revenue targets rather than fall short,” she said.

“And certainly, we will do all that we can in a responsible manner to use our limited resources to excite Powerball players, grow sales and maximize revenues for the scholarship program.”

Hamlin said New Mexico lottery sales have been down since reaching a record high of $150.6 million in 2006.  She said scratcher ticket sales, which account for about 60 percent of total New Mexico Lottery sales, dropped about $16 million since 2007.

About 30 percent of all lottery sales go into the scholarship fund, which supports more than 9,000 UNM students, UNM Director of Student Financial Aid Brian Malone said.

While sales have gone down since 2006, UNM tuition has steadily risen and the number of students receiving the scholarship has grown 28.5 percent since 2005.

The Legislative Lottery Scholarship covers full tuition costs for eight consecutive semesters. Students must maintain a 2.5 GPA and earn at least 12 credit hours per semester to remain eligible.

The New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee predicted last year that the fund could be depleted as soon as 2014.

Hamlin said the state Lottery Authority is predicting flat sales through fiscal year 2016, which means money going into the scholarship fund won’t increase.

Malone said he wouldn’t speculate on how UNM might deal with the rapidly depleting scholarship because decisions about its solvency are in the hands of the Legislative Finance Committee.

“I do not think (the program) it will cease to exist, rather, I suspect it will change, either in amounts of tuition covered, or in the manner in which eligibility is determined or measured.”