10 Aug 2025 Youth of the Month: Savannah Bollinger
By Lori Dunn
Since the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery was founded in 2009, it has raised $1.5 billion and funded more than 822,000 scholarships. The scholarships have helped thousands of students fulfill their educational dreams.
The lottery funds scholarships via ticket sales, and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) awards the scholarships. “Supporting students has always been the cornerstone of our mission at the lottery,” said Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Executive Director Sharon Strong. “We’ve seen for the past 15 years how Arkansans have benefited from the scholarships we fund, and we’re excited to keep up the good work. We’re able to help Arkansans pursue their dreams.
“It is rewarding to know that the work we do at the lottery helps students of all ages and backgrounds to succeed,” she said. “Everyone wins when students succeed.”
With more than 2,000 retailers statewide, the lottery is a massive, integrated team effort, Strong said. “Our sustained success comes from a united focus on our mission: maximizing net proceeds for scholarships in a responsible manner. From our gaming team, who ensures that we always have fun and engaging tickets available, to our sales department, whose representatives travel across the state day in and day out to assist our retailers, everyone plays their part in helping us achieve that goal,” she said.
The lottery has awarded more than $5 billion in prizes to players, more than $449 million in retailer commissions, and provided more than $186 million in state and federal tax revenue.
Strong was appointed director of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, a division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, in July 2024. Prior to this position, she served as senior assistant attorney general to Attorney General Tim Griffin. “As director of the lottery, I get to wear a lot of hats. Legal adviser, legislative partner, business strategist, team leader and retail expert. It’s a unique mix that lets me tackle challenges from multiple angles, support smart decision-making and keep things running smoothly in a dynamic, high-profile environment,” she said.
Several scholarships are funded, and the eligibility requirements and deadlines vary for each. The most well-known scholarship is the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship. It is available to both traditional and nontraditional students at two-year and four-year colleges. The deadline is July 1. “Regardless of whether you’re a high school senior or you’re re-enrolling after some time away, this scholarship is for you,” Strong said.
In addition to the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, the lottery also raises funds for the Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship and the ACCESS to Acceleration program.
The Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship is for students pursuing training in high-demand areas of healthcare, information technology and industry. The deadline is 30 days prior to the class start date. One of the scholarships, the Arkansas Concurrent Challenge, is intended for high school students taking college courses while still in high school. This program will be fully replaced with the ACCESS to Acceleration program by fall 2029. All lottery-funded scholarships have undergone changes following this year’s Arkansas legislative session. One change is an increase of the Arkansas Academic Challenge’s freshman award to $2,000, implementation of the ACCESS program, and the removal of the $800 cap on Arkansas Workforce Challenge awards via ACCESS.
“It is rewarding to know that the work we do at the lottery helps students of all ages and backgrounds to succeed,” Strong said.
The Academic Challenge Scholarship and the Academic Challenge Plus Scholarship have helped Savannah Bollinger, 19, achieve her educational goals.
She is a rising junior at Hendrix College. “It’s been super helpful. I pay for college completely on my own so every scholarship helps,” Bollinger said. The academic challenge provides varying amounts each year based on the institution and year of study. Bollinger said that has been a relief because she knows she will receive it each year. “It’s motivating to know it will help every year,” she said. The Academic Challenge Plus Scholarship provided additional funding based on financial need.
Bollinger applied to a lot of schools outside of Arkansas but ultimately chose Hendrix. “I was accepted into about 40 schools and scholarships help narrow it down. Hendrix offered me a lot of scholarships and I like the smaller classes,” the student said. She grew up in Northwest Arkansas and was homeschooled until high school. Her graduating class only had 17 students. Bollinger is majoring in philosophy with a psychology minor. She is also considering a pre-law track. “Being a lawyer, that’s the dream,” she said.
The scholarships have made a difference for students all over the state. Corrigan Revels grew up in Waldo and Magnolia in the southern part of Arkansas. He received scholarships from 2011 to 2015 during his undergrad years. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication and a Master of Arts in higher education. Today, he is the Assistant Director for Student Leadership & Development at UA Little Rock.
“Outside of some private scholarships, I did not have any other scholarships to support me for all four years,” Revels said. “This kept me from taking out additional loans for school. Now that I am paying my loans back, I’m thankful that it is not a large amount of money that I owe.
“All students who seek to earn a college degree in Arkansas should apply for the scholarship,” he said. “It is very helpful, and the qualifications are reasonable for students who are willing to work for it.”
To learn more about the eligibility requirements for these scholarships or to apply, call ADHE at 501.371.2000 or visit sams.adhe.edu. For more information about the lottery, visit MyArkansasLottery.com. The Scholarships page on the website contains updated information regarding lottery-funded scholarships. It also features an interactive map that shares the scholarship breakdown by county, institution, number of scholarships and total funding as of 2024.
