Promote the strong values of the Miss America Organization, represented by the four points on the Miss America crown standing for "Scholarship, Service, Style, and Success." Each crown awarded in the Miss America program, at the local, state, and national level, has the same four points.

The Miss America Organization

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. This assistance is not just for the handful of young women who become Miss America, but is available to the over 12,000 young women who compete in the state and local competitions as well.

Rich in history and social significance, the Miss America Organization is a not-for-profit organization that has maintained a tradition for many decades of empowering young women to achieve their personal and professional goals, while providing a forum in which to express their opinions, talent and intelligence. Scholarships have been the cornerstone of the Miss America program since 1945 when Bess Myerson was the first Miss America to receive a scholarship from the Organization.

Participating in the Miss America system not only helps women pay for college and prepare for a career, it also provides an opportunity to gain additional life experience, working on issues of importance to society, enhancing their personal and professional skills and developing performance-related and other talents.

Did you know?

Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, a young woman from the small town of Monroe, Michigan, entered a Miss America local competition to earn scholarship money to pay her nursing school bills. To her surprise, she captured not only a local and state title, but was ultimately named Miss America 1988. Kaye Lani used the scholarship money she earned as Miss America to pursue an advanced degree and fulfill her dream of opening a hospice for the terminally ill in her hometown.

The Miss America Program

"The Miss America program has enabled me to do things I never dreamed of doing…It is a vehicle to make your mark on this world."

Angela Perez Baraquio
Miss America 2001

Developed by the Miss America Organization, the Miss America program exists to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community. It provides a forum for today's young women to express their viewpoints, talents and accomplishments to audiences during the telecast and to the public-at-large during the ensuing year. Almost all Miss America program contestants have either received, or are in the process of earning either college or postgraduate degrees, and utilize Miss America scholarship grants to further their educations.

The Miss America competition began in 1921 as part of a stunt by Atlantic City businessmen to extend the summer tourist season. In succeeding years, the Miss America competition evolved into an American tradition with contestants from each of the states competing every September for the coveted title of Miss America. Early on, the talent competition was made part of the Competition in addition to the original swimsuit segment.

In 1945, the Organization began supporting women's education by offering its first scholarship. Today, the Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Each year, the Miss America Organization makes available more than $45 million in cash and tuition scholarship assistance.

In the 1980's, a significant stride towards community service was made by the Organization when it began requiring each contestant in the local, state and national competition to embrace a social platform of national significance. As a result, Miss Americas have since become powerful, visible and credible spokeswomen for issues ranging from AIDS awareness and prevention programs to programs in support of homeless veterans. Whereas the Miss Americas of the past may have spent their year of service signing autographs in local drug stores for one of the pageant's sponsors, Miss America today is in great demand as a speaker before legislative bodies, civic and national service organizations and prestigious bodies of the nation's news media such as the National Press Club. Today, on an annual basis, Miss America state and local titleholders, along with the Organization's network of volunteers, participate in more than 12,000 community service projects, providing in excess of 500,000 service hours to worthy causes.

Since its inception in 1921 the competition continues to grow and remains rich in history and social significance. Based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Miss America Organization (a not-for-profit organization) provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of unique nationwide community-based programs.

Miss America and Children's Miracle Network

On January 23, 2007, Children’s Miracle Network was selected as the official national platform for the Miss America Organization. This partnership represents the first time in the 86-year history of the Miss America Organization that they have adopted such a program. Children’s Miracle Network has had an 18-year history working with the Miss America Organization, with this newest initiative signifying a permanent and on-going relationship between the two.

Each year the new Miss America, in addition to bringing awareness to her personal platform, will be an official goodwill ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network as she raises funds and awareness for both Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization. This partnership also extends to the woman competing at the local, state and national levels of the pageant, asking each contestant who participates to be responsible for raising funds on behalf of Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization.

To learn more about the platform program, click here to download the Introductory Booklet.

About Children's Miracle Network

Children's Miracle Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children’s hospitals across North America. Each year the 170 Children's Miracle Network hospitals provide the finest medical care, life-saving research and preventative education to help millions of kids overcome diseases and injuries of every kind. To learn more visit www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org.

Behind The Miss America Program

Like most Americans, you've probably seen the Miss America competition televised live annually from Atlantic City, NJ. What you probably haven't seen is what's going on behind the scenes of the show, thanks to hundreds of thousands of volunteers throughout the country.

The nationally televised Miss America competition is just one very small part of a nationwide, community service network that operates 12 months a year in every state and more than a thousand cities and towns across the country. On an annual basis, Miss America state and local titleholders, along with the Organization's network of volunteers, participate in more than 12,000 community service projects, providing in excess of 500,000 service hours to worthy causes.

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Each year, the Miss America Organization makes available more than $45 million in cash and tuition scholarship assistance. The program exists to give young women a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals, while providing a forum in which they can express their talents, intelligence and opinions on culture, politics and the community.

Local and state Miss America programs - more than a thousand of them, in fact - are all part of the vast Miss America network. The volunteers who run these programs do much more than put on an annual competition. They provide scholarships that help finance the education of thousands of young women every year. They create opportunities for young women's voices to be heard across the nation on important social issues. And they help young women gain the personal and professional skills they need to succeed in life.

The History of Miss America

"Miss America represents the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace, and intelligence, artistic and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate."

Those words were spoken by Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce President Frederick Hickman more than 75 years ago, and they still ring true today. Miss America is a role model to young and old alike, and a spokesperson, using her title to educate millions of Americans on an issue of importance to herself and society at large.

Over the years, Miss America has been intent on making a difference in people's lives through her charitable and community endeavors. Jean Bartel, Miss America 1943, went so far as to use her celebrity in the war effort. She was credited with selling more Series E war bonds than anyone else in the United States - $2.5 million worth of them. While Kate Shindle, Miss America 1998, spent her year of service addressing groups and meeting with federal, state and local public officials on behalf of the HIV/AIDS cause. She even presided over sessions regarding women and AIDS at the 12th World AIDS Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Today, Miss America travels approximately 20,000 miles a month, changing her location every 24 to 48 hours. She tours the nation reaching out to support her ideals, committed to helping others. Miss America is more than just a title. She is a woman who reflects a tradition of style, sophistication and service.

Community Service

"I first became interested in a local competition because I didn't have any money for school. Then I found out about the talent and interview portion of the competition and thought the Miss America program was a good way for me to build life skills. Then I learned about the platform issue, and the fact that I could be a part of a worthy cause really convinced me to compete."

Angela Perez Baraquio
Miss America 2001

The Miss America Organization provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of unique nationwide community-based programs. On an annual basis, Miss America state and local titleholders, along with the Organization's network of volunteers, participate in more than 12,000 community service projects, providing in excess of 500,000 service hours to worthy causes.

In the 1940s, the Organization enlisted the support of the national Jaycees Organization to assist with state and local competitions, giving them a decidedly community-service oriented focus.

In 1989, the Miss America Organization founded the platform concept, which requires each contestant to choose an issue about which she cares deeply and that is of relevance to our country. Once chosen, Miss America and the state titleholders use their stature to address community service organizations, business and civic leaders, the media and others about their platform issues. Since 1989, Miss America titleholders have appeared at thousands of public speaking engagements and charitable events to generate awareness for a variety of causes, including homelessness, HIV/AIDS prevention, domestic violence, diabetes awareness, character education, literacy, etc.

The National Community Service Scholarship was established in 1994 as part of the Miss America initiative to embrace community service as one of the qualities and attributes of Miss America. The Miss America Organization added the $5,000 National Community Service Scholarship to recognize women at the state level who demonstrate service to their community in exemplary fashion. These winners are eligible for the National award unless they capture their state title.

Today, Miss America is a global advocate for social and political issues that touch everyone's lives. Though it is Miss America herself who fills the spotlight during her year of service, the Miss America Organization is built on a vast network of grassroots support--individuals and communities who believe that service in one's community is a means to show patriotism as well as a way to gain depth of character.

Contestants at all levels of the Miss America program--from the local organization in Anytown, USA to the national telecast in Atlantic City--are required to clearly define a social issue to which they are sincerely committed and for which each will be an activist during her year of service. Reflecting the range of contestants with different backgrounds and viewpoints, the platforms are as diverse and varied as America itself.

Miss America
Key Facts and Figures

Overview

• Developed by the Miss America Organization, the Miss America program exists to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women and to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community. The program provides a forum for today's young women to express their viewpoints, talents and accomplishments to audiences during the telecast and to the public-at-large during the ensuing year. Almost all contestants have either received, or are in the process of earning, college or postgraduate degrees and utilize Miss America scholarship grants to further their educations.
• To become Miss America, a contestant must first win a local competition and then compete to represent her state, a process requiring personal commitment, hard work and talent. A woman may compete at the state level more than once, but may only compete in the national Miss America competition one time. More than twelve thousand women participate each year in the local and state events, culminating in the selection of 52 national finalists who vie for the Miss America title. Tens of thousands of volunteers organize the local and state preliminary competitions, promoting community involvement throughout the United States and furthering scholarship and achievement among young women in their communities.
• Miss America and the state titleholders partner with numerous corporate sponsors to raise funds for civic and charitable organizations tied to their platform issues. These corporate sponsors become involved with the Miss America program not only on a financial level, but also on both philosophical and personal levels.

General Background

• Rich in history and social significance, the Miss America Organization is a not-for-profit organization that has maintained a tradition for many decades of empowering American women to achieve their personal and professional goals, while providing a forum in which to express their opinions, talent and intelligence.
• The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance.

Community Service

• In the 1940s, the Organization enlisted the support of the national Jaycees Organization to assist with state and local competitions, giving them a decidedly community-service oriented focus.
• In 1989, the Miss America Organization founded the platform concept, which requires each contestant to choose an issue about which she cares deeply and that is of relevance to our society. Once chosen, Miss America and the state and local titleholders use their stature to address community-service organizations, business and civic leaders, the media and others about their platform issues. Since 1989, Miss America titleholders have appeared at thousands of public speaking engagements and charitable events to generate awareness for a variety of causes, including homelessness, HIV/AIDS prevention, domestic violence, diabetes awareness, character education, and literacy.
• In 1994, the Organization provided its first National Community-Service Award of $5,000. All community-service winners at the state level may apply for this national grant even if they have not won their state titles. Scholarship America (formerly known as Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America) administers the National Community Service Award.
• Since 1997, Miss America participants nationwide have taken part in "Make a Difference Day." Local and state titleholders, volunteers and Miss America make a difference through community service initiatives in conjunction with the Points of Light Foundation and USA Weekend.
• In 2000, state and local contestants collectively participated in 12,384 community-service projects, dedicating a total of 571,177 hours and raising millions of dollars for worthy causes.

Telecast

• In 1954, during the golden era of television, the Miss America competition was broadcast live for the first time. That broadcast broke viewership records of the day with 39 percent of the television audience (27 million viewers) watching the Miss America telecast.
• The Miss America telecast is the fourth longest-running live event in television history. It has been broadcast live at one time or another by all three of the country's major television networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC).

Miss America’s Outstanding Teen

Miss America's Outstanding Teen program has been organized to encourage positive achievement by helping to nurture and build the scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living, and community involvement of our nation’s youth.
 
Among its initiatives, the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen will host a national competition intended to encourage and reward the talent, communication skills, community service, and academic achievement of girls between 13 and 17 years of age. 

The Miss America’s Outstanding Teen will also establish community-based initiatives and mentoring programs aimed at helping our nation’s youth build character and gain the skills necessary for success in the real world. In partnership with committed adult volunteers, community and business leaders, as well as participants from the national competition, the Organization will implement programs aimed at helping young people develop strong values, leadership skills, social conscience, self worth and conviction about their own potential.

The Organization’s mentoring and community-base initiatives will be available to all young people (male and female) between the ages of 13 and 17.

Funds raised by the Organization will be used to fund scholarships for deserving young people according to guidelines established by the Organization’s Board of Directors in accordance with Internal Revenue Service rules and regulations. Funds will also be used to establish and develop the Organization’s mentoring program and community-based initiatives.

The Miss America’s Outstanding Teen anticipates awarding scholarships to individuals on the basis of academic merit and civic and social achievement. Scholarships will be awarded without condition or obligation to provide future services. 

Miss America's Outstanding Teen
Key Facts and Figures

• The Miss America Organization, the nation’s leading achievement program and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for women, has extended its trusted and long-celebrated brand (since 1921) to include a national teen program for the first time ever!

• The mission of the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen organization is to promote scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for America’s teens. 

• Miss America's Outstanding Teen is a scholarship-based program. Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers across the country, the organization offers to accomplished teens the opportunity to win college scholarship funds. 

• The first national competition will be held at the Orange County Convention Center, Linda Chapin Theater, Orlando, FL. The MAOTeen Headquarters is located in the beautiful Rosen Centre Hotel. 

• Community Service is required on the local level. A national platform is required on the state and national level. However, contestants can still pursue a secondary community service.