Miss America organisers revise scholarship amount paid
Pageant organisers were questioned by John Oliver on amount of cash it actually paid contestants
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.
