The Miss America Organization named the Top 10 finalists for its Quality of Life Awards on August 31, 2026, putting the scholarship race into its next stage. In the Teen division, Ella-Kathryn Anderson was among the finalists announced, along with Meredith Rosemurgy, Natalie Troyer-Kulstad and Madalyn Sullivan.
The awards are meant to recognize delegates whose service and commitment have made a measurable impact in their communities, and the winners will receive scholarship money for that work. The Miss America Quality of Life Award carries $10,000, while the Miss America’s Teen Quality of Life Award pays $3,000, with additional scholarships for the first and second runners-up in both divisions.
The finalists were reviewed by academic professionals from Samford University, Hood College and Troy University, with Leslie Anne Scrushy serving as Head Judge for the Miss America Preliminary Quality of Life Award Judges and Joseph H. “Jody” Hunt serving as Head Judge for the Miss America’s Teen Preliminary Quality of Life Award Judges. The announcement came from West Palm Beach, FL, and it confirmed that the Top 10 finalists in both divisions will move on to final interviews.
What the announcement did not fully show is as telling as what it did: only four Miss America’s Teen finalists were named in the release, even though the organization said the Top 10 in both divisions had been selected. That leaves the full list of finalists still out of view, but it does not change the next step. The finalists now advance to a final interview round with a panel of servant-hearted philanthropists, nonprofit leaders and entrepreneurs, where the awards tied to annual service recognition and scholarship money will be decided.
