Providing Leadership & Scholarship to New York's Brightest Women

The Miss New York Scholarship Organization is an official state license of the Miss America Organization.

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and one of the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available millions in cash and scholarship assistance.

Participating in the Miss America system helps young women pay for college and prepare for a career through hands-on leadership; all while gaining life experience, working on issues of importance to society, enhancing personal and professional skills and developing artistic expression. As a Miss America state license, we are proud to be part of an iconic American tradition of supporting generations of female leadership.

We continue to uphold the unique tradition of the Miss America Organization talent competition, celebrating women in the arts with academic and professional training scholarships.

Making a difference through personal platforms is at our core. From lobbying on Senate floors to developing workshops in classrooms, we seek to enable women to expand their civic impact and reach. 

STYLE

What began as a bikini competition on the boardwalk of Atlantic City over 90 years ago has become a platform for transforming and celebrating personal health. 

Balancing personal fitness alongside education, career and service can be a challenge. At the Miss New York Organization, we reward women for discovering and mastering their ability to achieve a healthy balance of personal and professional well-being. A strong body is a necessity, not a luxury. It is the tool that carries the strong mind and heart inside each young leader. 

In addition to scholarships for physical fitness, we provide a platform for women to share their story of balancing health, success and academics. They are role models for modern young women. 

SERVICE

In 1989, the Miss America Organization founded the "platform", which requires each contestant to choose an issue about which she cares deeply and that is of relevance to our country. Miss America and the state titleholders use their stature to address community service organizations, business and civic leaders, the media and others about their platform issues. From collaborating with lawmakers to working in classrooms across the state, the Miss New York Organization titleholders champion a range of causes.

Besides promoting their own issues of concern, titleholders from across the country become advocates for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Since 1989, Miss America has served as the National Goodwill Ambassador, and in 2007, the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals was named the official national platform of the Miss America Organization. As Goodwill Ambassadors, Miss America as well as state and local titleholders respectively raise funds and awareness for 170 children's hospitals across the United States, which, in return, use the money where it's needed most.

We are proud to provide a venue for young women to master their ability to impact the world.

SCHOLARSHIP

In the 1990s, the Miss America Organization founded a scholarship fund and began awarding its participants with academic scholarships to the higher education institution of their choice. Since many participating women are college graduates already, or on the verge of graduating, scholarship money is often devoted to graduate school or professional schools, or to pay off student loans for courses already taken.

The Miss America Organization awards millions of dollars annually in academic scholarships, serving as the nation’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.

The Miss New York Organization is proud to maintain this tradition on the state level through the Empire State Educational Scholarship Fund.

SUCCESS

Talent routines, introduced to competition in 1935 and made mandatory in 1938, have been a cornerstone of the Miss America Organization. Our stage has been a launching pad for artistic careers, from Broadway to Hollywood.

Whether pursuing the arts professionally or as a hobby, we reward young women for finding the time and discipline to maintain a healthy balance of create expression as part of their overall lifestyle. In addition to awarding scholarships for excellence in the arts, the Miss New York Organization proudly partners with New York's leading entertainment industry training programs to provide access to professional development.