One top Mesa student to receive prestigious 2025 Flinn Scholarship

Alejandro Zayas Abril

Flinn Scholarship

Twenty Arizona high-school seniors — including Alejandro Zayas Abril, a student at Heritage Academy Mesa — have been awarded the 2025 Flinn Scholarship, the state’s most prestigious merit-based award that provides a full ride to an Arizona public university.

The 40th class of Flinn Scholars receives a comprehensive package valued at more than $135,000 over four years, including the cost of tuition, fees, housing, meals, and at least two study-abroad experiences including a two-week group summer seminar following freshman year.

The 20 Flinn Scholars representing 20 high schools will be attending Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona starting this fall.

The Flinn Scholarship is supported by the Phoenix-based Flinn Foundation in partnership with Arizona’s three public universities.

The foundation, which announced its first class of Flinn Scholars in 1986, created the scholarship to retain Arizona’s highest-achieving students while bolstering the universities’ Honors Colleges as destinations for academic excellence.

There were more than 1,100 applications for the 2025 Flinn Scholarship, an award rate of about 2%.

The Flinn Scholarship provides many benefits beyond the cost of attendance. Other benefits include:

• An international summer seminar with the entire Scholar class after freshman year and at least one additional study-abroad experience.
• Participation in a supportive community of nearly 750 current and alumni Flinn Scholars, including about 80 Scholars studying at the three state universities at any given time.
• Membership in a university honors college, with its small class size, access to top researchers and labs, and guest lectures.
• Personal mentorship from top faculty and fellow Scholars, plus invitations to exclusive events with Arizona and global leaders in business, government, science, and the arts.
• Unique intellectual, cultural, and social activities developed for Flinn Scholars by both the Flinn Foundation and universities.