Here’s something you probably already know; college is expensive. The latest numbers put the average cost of one year at a public, in-state university around $15,000 per year.
Here’s something you might not know. Some of the largest funders of college scholarships are pageant organizations. That’s right, beauty pageants. The Miss America organization for instance is said to be the largest private funder of women’s college scholarships in the world.
Along with donning crowns and pageant sashes, pageant winners have also been known to pick up anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 in college scholarships. Many of the organizations will help kick in scholarship money for teens and soon-to-be college students even without them winning a title. Here are just a few of the different organizations to look into that offer pageant scholarships to high school students and college students.
Miss America and Miss America Outstanding Teen– Each year, the Miss America organization provides millions of dollars of scholarship money to women perusing undergraduate and graduate degrees. The winner of the 2013 Miss America pageant for instance received $52,000 in scholarships for winning the national title.
The Outstanding Teen program also put on by Miss America provides $1,000 scholarships to all state pageant winners. Those who go onto the national title can win as much as $30,000 in scholarships.
AJM – America’s Junior Miss is well known for providing scholarships and education assistance not only to pageant winners, but also partial awards to pageant participants. The program is available in a number of states across the nation.
Cinderella Pageant– The Cinderella organization offers programs for all ages of girls and women up to 26 years old. Students can be eligible for college scholarships ranging form $2,000 to 4,000 as well as cash awards of several thousand dollars.
School Specific Organizations – Some college and universities also offer their own scholarships for state pageant winners. Some examples include Keystone College in Pennsylvania and Huntingdon College in Alabama. Check with your school of choice to see if they offer any
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