Miss America Pagean

The Miss America pageant is one of the most well known beauty pageants in the U.S. It is a long-standing beauty competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states, including the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. The winner of the Miss America Pageant is awarded the title of "Miss America" for one year. Kirsten Haglund won the title of Miss America pageant on January 26, 2008.

History of Miss America Pageant:

Miss America Pageant started off in the year 1921. The national beauty pageant began in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was held there every year in the month of September till 2004.

In January, 2006 Miss America Pageant was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pageant is much more than a candy floss beauty contest. In fact it goes far beyond that and awards scholarships to the winner and her runners-up scholarships for admission to the institution of their choice. The Miss America Scholarship program is the largest provider of scholarship money to young women across the world. In the year 2006 more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance was made available.

Eligibility Criteria for Entering in the Miss America Pageant:

In order to enter the Miss America Pageant, a candidate must posses the following criteria,

• The candidate must be aged between the 17 and 24 years.
• The candidate for Miss America Pageant must be a United States citizen.
• The contestant must be able to meet residency requirements for competing in a certain town or state.
• The candidate for Miss America Pageant should be able to meet character criteria as set forth by the Miss America Organization.
• She must be able to meet the time commitment and job responsibilities as set forth by the local program in which she is competing.