Miss America organisers revise scholarship amount paid

The Miss America Organisation says it handed out nearly $6 million (Dh22 million) in cash or free tuition to contestants last year in its scholarship awards programme.

Figures released on Friday represent a change in the way the pageant describes its scholarships.

In the past, the group said it made up to $45 million available in annual scholarships. But the figure didn’t represent money actually paid out or used by contestants.

Miss America and its state organisations gave more than $5.9 million in cash awards or tuition waivers to contestants across the country last year.

In 2014, more than 350 colleges and universities across the country awarded in-kind tuition waivers to Miss America contestants.

The revised reporting comes nearly a year after TV comedian John Oliver questioned the group’s scholarship payout claims.