There She Is, Miss America!
Sure, we’ve all made fun of the way they wave and cry when they are crowned. But you’d be waving and crying, too, if you were getting all that college scholarship money along with the tiara and bouquet.
That’s right: Beyond the evening gowns and talent competition, the Miss America pageant is one of the largest scholarship programs in the world. Last year, over 12,000 contestants competed at the local, state, and national levels for a share of more than $45 million in cash and scholarship grants.
Makes you want to put on a swimsuit and strut around in stiletto heels, doesn’t it?
Don’t forget that beyond the mega-watt smiles and big hair are intelligent women who are trying to put themselves through college. Check out the alma maters of these recent winners:
Miss America 2008: Kirsten Haglund, Univ. of Cincinnati
Miss America 2007: Lauren Nelson, Univ. of Central Oklahoma
Miss America 2006: Jennifer Berry, Univ. of Oklahoma
Miss America 2005: Deidre Downs*, Univ. of Virginia
Miss America 2004: Ericka Dunlap, Univ. of Central Florida
Miss America 2003: Erika Harold, Univ. of Illinois
Miss America 2002: Katie Harman, Portland State Univ.
Miss America 2001: Angela Perez Baraquio, Univ. of Hawaii
*Deidre Downs actually gave up a full volleyball scholarship so she could focus on her studies. Looks like she was able to pay for her college tuition anyway!
Miss America is awarded a $50,000 college scholarship, but don’t think you have to take the title to cash in. Check out this list of recent winners. Cha-ching!
Are you thinking of competing in a pageant? Let BarbaraBlogger know. There could be a guest blogger position in it for you!
This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 1:57 pm and is filed under College Scholarships, College Tuition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
cool- i totally didn’t know there was more to the pageant than stilettos and tiaras. Seems like a lot of cash to go to just one person tho… makes you sorta wish they’d give 500 bucks to 100 different applicants. I’d take it….
September 14th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Actually, every local and state winner receives money before they even get to Miss America! The minimum scholarship at the local level is $500.00. State winners usually receive between $8,000 and $20,000, and that’s not including whatever they pick up at Miss America!
September 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am
[…] reins today to Laura Pennington, Miss Commonwealth (Virginia). Laura read BB’s previous post about earning scholarship money by competing in the Miss America Pageant and wanted to share the following advice with all you smart and sassy women out there: I had […]