7/23/2019 Miss America Scholarship Details Remain Unclear
1/2
Miss America scholarship details remain unclear
Saturday, July 25, 2015 8:30 amBy John V. Santore
The Miss Ameria !r"ani#ation is han"in" ho$ it o%erates its
sholarshi% %ro"ram &ut isn't sayin"ho$.
The %a"eant or"ani#ation delined to %ro(ide s%ei)i data this
July onernin" the si#e and im%at o)its sholarshi% %ro"ram, se(en
months a)ter The *ress $as )irst denied that in)ormation.
+ast )all, the or"ani#ation delined to share either
state&ystate or national statistis detailin" theannual
sholarshi%s it a$ards to %a"eant ontestants.
*rior to )ain" srutiny in 201- )rom omedian John !li(er, $ho
ritii#ed the or"ani#ation'ssholarshi% laims durin" an e%isode o)
his $eely tele(ision sho$ on /B!, Miss Ameria routinelyre)erened -5
million in sholarshi% money it made a(aila&le eah year.
nstead, in January, )ormer Miss Ameria !r"ani#ation *resident
Sharon *eare said the or"ani#ation$as $orin" $ith an inde%endent
onsultant to assess its sholarshi% %ro"ram. *eare said shee4%eted
the re(ie$ to &e om%leted $ithin the ne4t se(eral months.
*eare ste%%ed do$n )rom the Miss Ameria !r"ani#ation in
e&ruary.
But $hen The *ress ased the "rou% a"ain )or sholarshi%
statistis, the or"ani#ation didn't o))er them.
nstead, it released a statement sayin" that this year, Miss
Ameria under$ent a om%rehensi(e audito) our sholarshi% a$ard %roess
and systems onduted &y Ste#ala 6onsultin", ++6, a
nationalleader in the desi"n, e(aluation, and im%ro(ement o)
sholarshi% %ro"rams.
7hile still on"oin", $e are e4ited )or the im%ro(ements and
e))iienies &rou"ht to the or"ani#ationthrou"hout this %roess,
inludin" the de(elo%ment o) online train" and a data&ase
throu"hSales)ore, the statement read.
The %a"eant or"ani#ation's statement also said it %ro(ides
millions o) dollars in sholarshi% assistaneto $omen on an annual
&asis, inludin" aademi and ommunity&ased sholarshi%s
)orunder"raduate and "raduate studies, as $ell as endo$ed
sholarshi%s )or those youn" $omen attendin"medial shool, $orin" in
s%eial areas )or military ser(ie a$areness, and in the %er)ormin"
arts.
im Ste#ala, the %resident o) Ste#ala 6onsultin", %ro(ided an
additional statement, desri&in" the MissAmeria sholarshi%
a$ards as )le4i&le and (ery rele(ant to hi"her eduation today
and adherin" toall o) the 9.S. e%artment o) ;duation %oliies on
sholarshi%s.
or the sae o) om%arison, The *ress re
7/23/2019 Miss America Scholarship Details Remain Unclear
2/2
Bentley 7orthy, a s%oes$oman )or the "rou%, said that three
indi(iduals ?used their a$ards )or li(in"e4%enses, and the rest
$ere sent diretly to the olle"es to hel% o(er tuition and
)ees.?
The S7; %ro(ides sholarshi%s )or under"raduate and "raduate
students studyin" en"ineerin",en"ineerin" tehnolo"y and om%uter
siene &oth in Me4io and the 9nited States, aordin" to
its$e&site.
or the 201-2015 aademi year, it a$arded 232 sholarshi%s totalin"
>21,300, aordin" to Maria+am%ela, one o) the or"ani#ation's
mana"ers.
7e sent the sholarshi% hes diretly to the shools and $e rea$ard
any sholarshi%s that arereturned, +am%ela added.
The soiety's $e&site also lists %ast a$ard rei%ients "oin"
&a to the 20012002 aademi year,inludin" their a$ard and
ma@or.
+ast year, in an attem%t to %rodue a$ard totals )or Miss Ameria,
The *ress re(ie$ed %u&lilya(aila&le ta4 )orms and
$e&sites onneted to state Miss Ameria "rou%s and the national
or"ani#ation.
uidestar, an online data&ase o) )inanial in)ormation )or
non%ro)its, ontained ta4 )orms listin"sholarshi% in)ormation )or
a&out hal) o) the state "rou%s.
The Miss Ameria $e&site listed the om%etitors $ho $on
sholarshi%s at the national le(el, alon" $iththe sholarshi% sums,
thou"h it didn't state i) the money $as atually used )or an aademi
%ur%ose.That remains true today.
A re(ie$ o) state "rou% $e&sites )ound an array o) re%ortin"
on dis%lay. Some $e&sites shared urrentin)ormation, $hile
others $ere se(eral years out o) date, or didn't list sholarshi%
data.
These data soures totaled a&out 2 million in annual
sholarshi% a$ards.
n early January, *eare, the )ormer Miss Ameria 6;!, said that
rou"h estimate si"ni)iantlyunderestimates sholarshi%s dis&ursed
&y the or"ani#ation, thou"h she didn't e4%lain $hy or &y
ho$muh.
;(en the 2 million sum $ould mae Miss Ameria a leadin" %ro(ider
o) sholarshi%s )or $omen.
/o$e(er, it is also at odds $ith the "rou%'s %ast %u&li
statements onernin" its sholarshi% %ro"ram.
*eare $rote in eem&er that Miss Ameria ne(er laimed to "i(e
out -5 million eah year. =ather,she said the sum re%resents
&oth ash sholarshi%s and the inind sholarshi% o%%ortunities
%ro(ided&y aademi %artners nation$ide $ho su%%ort MA! and the
youn" $omen in the %ro"ram.
As o) Se%tem&er, 201-, the Miss Ameria $e&site stated
that the or"ani#ation o))ers more than -0million in sholarshi%s to
its om%etitors, thou"h that lan"ua"e $as soon re%laed $ith a laim
thatito))ers millions in sholarshi%s to its om%etitors
annually.
That statement $as still in %lae as o) this July.
