To become Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, a candidate must first compete to represent her state, a process requiring personal commitment, hard work and talent. To compete in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen program, you need commitment, perseverance, talent and ambition.

To compete you must:

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• Miss America’s Teen 14-18: must be no YOUNGER than 14 by September 1 and no older than 18 on Sept 30, 2026.

• Be a United States citizen.

• Meet residency requirements for competing in a certain town or state.

• Meet character criteria as set forth by the Miss America’s Teen Organization.

• Be in reasonably good health to meet the job requirements.

• Be able to meet the time commitment and responsibilities as set forth by the local program in which you compete.

• Must not be eligible to compete in the Miss America Competition.

• At - Large Titles are available, please contact Kay Cagle.

• Teen Age Criteria- Additional Notes:

• Miss America HQ allows the option for 18-year-old contestants to have a ‘pivot’ year to decide whether they would like to compete in the Teen or Miss divisions.

• Additionally, once an 18-year-old decides on the division she may compete in, she may not change divisions until the next cycle. Please proceed to your applicable State online application.

If you are interested in receiving more information about becoming a candidate in the Miss America’s Teen program, please visit the Local Competitions Page to select a Local Competition to compete in.