Two Tempe students are a part of the 20 Arizona high-school seniors awarded the 2025 Flinn Scholarship, the state’s most prestigious merit-based award that provides a full ride to an Arizona public university.
The students from Tempe are Rati Tabatadze, a student at Gilbert Classical Academy, and Johanna Villanueva, a student at Marcos de Niza High School.
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, a press release explained.
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.
Anne Lassen, Flinn Foundation vice president, scholarship and education initiatives, said in the release that it’s “no surprise” that the nation’s top universities fight so fiercely to recruit these students.
“Watching these young adults move seamlessly from explaining complex scientific ideas to unpacking global political challenges leaves no doubt that the future is in capable hands,” Lassen said.
The Flinn Scholars Class of 2025 will be introduced formally on May 3 at the program’s annual Recognition Luncheon, where they will be honored before some 200 family members, university officials, community leaders, and graduating Flinn Scholars.
There were more than 1,100 applications for the 2025 Flinn Scholarship, an award rate of about 2%, the release noted.
Computer science, engineering, biological and physical science, social sciences and law, business, education, visual and performing arts, and data science and public policy are some of the fields of study the 2025 Scholars plan to pursue.
The Flinn Scholarship application requires academic transcripts, minimum standardized test scores, essays and short-answer questions, and recommendations. Flinn Scholars are typically in the top 5% of their graduating class and demonstrate leadership and service in extracurricular activities, according to the release.
Tammy McLeod, Flinn Foundation president and CEO, said in the release that for 40 years, the Flinn Scholars have studied, innovated, created, and formed a community at Arizona’s three public universities.
“The Flinn Foundation is grateful for this decades-long partnership that has led to three exceptional Honors Colleges that benefit not only the Flinn Scholars, but our universities and the state of Arizona,” McLeod said.
