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MISS AMERICA DOUBLES SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT DURING RECORD-SETTING 100TH ANNIVERSARY COMPETITION
Miss America Organization to Award $100,000
to New Miss America Winner....
UNCASVILLE, CT (SMI-ENTERTAINMENT, 12.01.21) – With the Miss America competition just days away, the Miss America Organization is proud to announce that it will award a record-setting amount in scholarships in support of women achieving their lives’ goals and future aspirations. For the first time in history, the 100th Anniversary Miss America will not only take home the coveted crown but also receive $100,000 in scholarships when she wins the Centennial competition, which is scheduled for Dec. 12-16 at Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Conn.
This year’s Miss America will receive a $50,000 scholarship increase through a donation from Ryan and Shawntel Smith Wuerch. Shawntel Smith served as Miss America 1996, and dedicates this gift to her mother, Karen Smith. This generous contribution along with donations from the Century Club members will bring the total scholarship award for Miss America to $100,000, doubling the amount awarded in previous years.
Reinforcing the motto of “top scholarship provider for women,” the total cash awarded to all of the candidates at the Miss America competition this year is a historic high, totaling $435,500. The Miss America Organization awards more than $5 million in cash scholarships each year and millions more in-kind per year through national, state, and local programs.
“Miss America has a long tradition of providing scholarships for young women to further their education, so we are very excited to double the prize for the Miss America competition for our 100th Anniversary event,” said Shantel Krebs, Chair of the Board and Interim President and CEO. “We would like to thank Miss America 1996, Shawntel Smith Wuerch, and her husband, Ryan Wuerch, as well as all of our donors for continuing to believe in the strength of a woman’s education and supporting the leaders and role models of tomorrow, today."
Other new scholarship awards for this year’s competition include Kawai Piano, giving a total of $5,000 for preliminary-night competition talent winners. Additionally, Dakota State University will contribute $5,000 to the top winner in a writing competition in which all candidates will submit a timed written response to a question pertaining to cybersecurity. IT Help, Inc. will sponsor the two winners of the preliminary competition’s social impact pitch with a $1,000 scholarship each. Sherman College of Chiropractic will offer full in-kind tuition scholarships to each of the 51 candidates competing this year, with the value of $123,550 per competitor.
“Our Wuerch Family Foundation is proud to contribute $50,000 in honor of my mother, Karen Smith, who was a woman that led by example and who believed in the life-changing scholarships to young women provided by the Miss America Organization,” said Shawntel Smith Wuerch.
The preliminaries on Sunday, December 12 and Monday, December 13 will be live streamed at watchmissamerica.com at 7PM ET, with the final night of the Miss America competition being broadcast from the award-winning 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, on Thursday, December 16 at 8PM ET. This year’s competition will return with a new and enhanced format allowing audiences to stream the event live across all time zones for the first time ever.
ABOUT THE MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION
The Miss America Organization, a 501(c) (4), is one of the most recognizable household names in America working to empower young women through education and service. The Miss America Organization is comprised of 51 licensed state organizations, including all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The organization awards more than five million dollars in cash scholarships each year and millions more in-kind per year through national, state, and local programs.