The pageant, which began in the 1920s and formally adopted the Miss America name in 1940, markets itself heavily as a provider of $US45 million ($A51 million) in scholarship funds every year specifically for women.

However, an investigation by Oliver's HBO program, Last Week Tonight, revealed they pay out only a fraction of that total.

Oliver revealed that the pageant's calculated total of $US45 million is reached by including all of the college scholarships a single pageant contestant is offered, even though it is clear that a single entrant can select only one of the offered scholarships.

In one example, a contestant was offered scholarships to colleges in four cities - Allentown, Doylestown, Glenside and Pittsburgh - in the state of Pennsylvania; the total value of all four is included in the pageant's calculation even though, ultimately, an entrant can only choose one of them.

Researchers for the program sourced tax paperwork which revealed the pageant had in fact paid less than $US4 million in scholarships across the United States.

In some states no money was paid out.

In another example the show highlighted, the pageant claimed to have offered $US2.6 million in scholarships to one university, but obtained the total by multiplying the value of a single scholarship - $US54,000 - by the 48 competitors who could have, in theory, accepted it.

In fact, none of them accepted that particular offer and no money was paid out.

Though the segment itself was written as a long monologue for Oliver with emphasis on comedy, the allegations he raised clearly rattled the organisers of the pageant, who immediately responded by issuing a statement clarifying their position.

They did not, however, deny the revelations made by Oliver's program.

"We highlight the impressive, generous $45 million in scholarships made available in an effort to honour every one of our academic partners nationwide," the organisation said in a statement.

"As with any scholarship, the full amount awarded may not always be used as recipients' plans change or evolve."

They did not explain why scholarships offered by different colleges to a single entrant were added up when it was clear that an entrant could only enroll in one of the colleges and must effectively choose between them.

The pageant markets itself as "the world's largest provider of scholarships for women".

Ironically, even after Oliver's takedown, that fact remains true, highlighting how few scholarships in academia are offered specifically to women.

Entrants in the 2014 pageant, which was held last week were quizzed on stage about government tracking of phone records, charging whistle-blowers with treason, the release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and even the the growing threat of ISIS in the Middle East.

Oliver noted, with some amusement, that the question about Guantanamo Bay was raised by actor Ian Ziering, best known as one of the stars of Beverly Hills 90210 and the B-movie Sharknado.

"I sincerely doubt the intricacies of hostage exchanges are going to be resolved by a 21-year-old PR major and the star of Sharknado," Oliver declared.

The answers to those on-stage questions only account for five per cent of an entrant's final score. The remainder is broken up between talent (35 per cent), private interview (25 per cent), evening wear (20 per cent) and swimsuit (15 per cent).