- May 3, 2026
Flagler Palm Coast senior Adniel Alonso has been awarded the prestigious Gates Scholarship.
Alonso is just one of 750 Gates Scholarship winners out of 61,000 applicants nationwide. He is also a National Merit Scholar Finalist. He plans to major in electrical engineering at the University of Florida.
The Gates Scholarship is a last-dollar scholarship meaning that beyond all of his other financial aid packages, it will fund the remaining cost of attendance in college including room and board, books and transportation.
Launched in 2017 by the Gates Foundation, the scholarship’s goal to help outstanding students from low-income backgrounds realize their maximum potential. According to thegatesscholarship.org, the program “is based on evidence that by eliminating the financial barriers to college, a last-dollar scholarship can enable high-potential, low-income students to excel in their course work, graduate college, and continue to be leaders throughout their lives.”
“You can basically consider it a full ride,” Alonso said. “Even though, I do have National Merit Finalists, which does combine with the Bright Futures that I'm getting from the IB Program, all of that does give me the Benacquisto Scholarship, which covers a lot of financial aid for in-state universities, but the Gates Scholarship covers all those other expenses that might not be mentioned in your cost of attendance.”
For example, he said, last week he discovered that college orientation is another big expense. But he can send in the receipt for the Gates Scholarship Program to refund him.
Phil DeAugustino, FPC’s Guidance Department chair, said that in his 38 years at the school, there have only been two or three other students who were awarded the Gates Scholarship.
“It’s just that difficult to get,” DeAugustino said.
After Alonso was selected as a semifinalist, he was required to write essays to advance to the next round. As a finalist, the last step was an interview.
I was pretty surprised when I became a semifinalist, equally surprised when I became a finalist and I thought, ‘oh wow, this is as far as I'll go.’
— ADNIEL ALONSO
“I’m very grateful I was able to make it all the way through,” he said. “I was pretty surprised when I became a semifinalist, equally surprised when I became a finalist and I thought, ‘oh wow, this is as far as I'll go.’ But when it hit me that I was actually a Gates Scholar, I was very impressed. Honestly, I'm really shocked that I was able to get it, but I'm equally excited about it, because it is really a nice opportunity.”
In addition to funding, the program’s website said, the Gates Scholarship also ensures the scholars access to resources and services they will need from the first day of classes through graduation and the transition to their chose careers. The program will also pay for one study abroad session, and help pay expenses for one internship, Alonso said.
Alonso said he chose to major in engineering because it combines his interests in mathematics and physics.
I want to see if this is a keen interest of mine,” he said of electrical engineering. “I want to see if I have that passion and that talent for it. I'm still on that path of looking to see what I want to do, but because engineering majors don't really declare until after their first two years, I still have time to decide what specific engineering I want to do.”
