COLUMBIA, S.C. - The state lottery has provided more than $429 million to pay for scholarships and education programs since it began selling tickets two years ago, lottery officials said Wednesday.

The lottery, which sold its first tickets Jan. 7, has grown from four scratch-off lottery games to several dozen and four numbers games - Pick 3, Pick 4, Carolina 5 and the multistate Powerball.

"It has been a fun game for the participants," said lottery commissioner Moffatt Burriss. "It's been a profitable game for South Carolina education."

Since the games began in 2002, more than $1.5 billion in tickets have been sold, said Ernie Passailaigue, the lottery's executive director. About 64 percent of that money came from scratch-off tickets and 19 percent from Powerball tickets.

Most of the lottery's earnings - 56.3 percent - has gone to pay prizes in the current fiscal year. After operating costs, about 32.1 percent in income has been left for scholarships and other programs.

York, Horry and Charleston counties lead the state's 46 counties in sales, Passailaigue said.

About 12 percent of the state's lottery ticket buyers are from North Carolina, the home state of both couples who won Powerball jackpots after purchasing tickets in South Carolina in 2003. Another 1 percent of the buyers are from Georgia.

The number of convenience stores, grocery stores and other businesses selling tickets has grown to more than 3,500 and that number could grow to 4,000 within the coming year, said Passailaigue said.

In March, the lottery also plans to have three Carolina 5 drawings a week instead of two, Passailaigue said. The game awards winners $100,000, taxes paid.