In the 2000s, preliminary awards for evening gown and interview were briefly introduced but were discontinued after two years as it was felt that they made the semi-finalists too predictable.
[54] This award was discontinued since the Miss America 2019 competition and was replaced with state titleholders participating in a live interactive session with the judges, "to highlight her achievements and goals in life and how she will use her talents, passion, and ambition to perform the job of Miss America.
"[71] In 2008, the Miss America Organization introduced this award in which viewers could cast votes online for a specific state titleholder a month before the final night of pageant.
The state titleholder with the most votes is then given an automatic spot in the semi-finals, regardless of her performance in the preliminary competition.
At the Miss America 2014 pageant, the Miss America Organization introduced this $5,000 scholarship to be given to state titleholders with strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) backgrounds with the goal of highlighting the vital and active roles women have in these fields.