Poll Shows Statewide Voter Support for Merit-Based Lottery Scholarships

Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009
Poll Shows Statewide Voter Support for Merit-Based Lottery Scholarships

LITTLE ROCK (February 10, 2009) â€" Seven in 10 Arkansas voters support awarding lottery scholarships based on students’ academic achievement, specifically a 2.5 grade point average or higher, a statewide survey reports. Only 18 percent support awarding lottery-funded scholarships based solely on family income.

The telephone poll of 400 Arkansans also shows that 74 percent of respondents believe a lack of college scholarships is a big problem for students and 65 percent trust that new scholarships funded with the net proceeds of a state-run lottery will be available to all graduating high school seniors regardless of family income.

“These poll results confirm my belief that when Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing a state lottery for college scholarships, they did so believing every Arkansas citizen who wants to earn a college degree would have the opportunity to do so with lottery dollars,” Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter said.

HOPE for Arkansas LLC commissioned the poll, which was conducted January 26-27 by Opinion Research Inc. of Little Rock. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percent.

Other poll findings include:
81 percent of respondents support granting lottery scholarships for non-traditional adult students who want to go back to college.
81 percent of respondents believe the current state scholarship process is too complicated and confusing.
70 percent of respondents oppose granting lottery scholarships only to families making less than $30,000.
60 percent of respondents oppose granting lottery scholarships only to students from families making less than $75,000.
98 percent of respondents believe it’s important that Arkansans have access to education beyond high school.