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Bensonhurst Mom Of College-Aged Quadruplets Wrestles With Cost Of Education – How Do You Cope With High Tuition?


by on Jan 24th, 2013

Source: nycprivateschoolsblog.com

The New York Daily News this week featured the story of Carmela and Pasquale Sciannantena, a Bensonhurst couple working like dogs to find the money to send their 17-year-old quadruplets to college after they graduate from Bishop Kearney High School (2202 60th Street) this year, illustrating how even New York’s public higher education system can cost a pretty penny.

The girls - Mariagrazia, Michela, Elisa and Sabrina – were born in 1995 at Brooklyn Hospital, after mom Carmela turned to fertility shots when she had trouble conceiving.

Since then, Carmela and Pasquale have cared for their four girls – and, later, a fifth, Gabriella – with mom working at the school full time in the finance department and a second job as a cashier at night, while dad repairs commercial dishwashers.

The Daily News reports:

The Sciannantenas shell out $200 a week for food, $130 on cell phone service a month and thousands more a year on tuition at Bishop Kearney on 60th St. – a figure expected to rise considerably once the girls go to college.

To keep costs low, the Sciannantena girls will commute from home and apply to the same City University of New York school in the fall – where tuition would total about $21,720 for the four at a four-year college.

The family is also considering CUNY’s two-year colleges, which would cost $3,900 for each girl.

The parents are also busy filling out financial aid forms, loan applications and encouraging the girls to find scholarship money.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do,” said Carmela Sciannantena. “One way or another I’ll have to sacrifice. I might even have to get a third job, but I’ll find a way.”

Even at the two-year colleges, the total annual bill for tuition alone racks up $15,600 – highlighting just how expensive even public higher education can be.

But mom’s making sure the girls keep a good head on their shoulders, even if they’d rather go their separate ways.

“Sometimes when they do ask for things it’s hard,” she said. “But they have clothes on their backs, food on their table, a roof over their heads and two parents who are willing to do whatever they can for them. That counts more than anything else.”

Did you struggle to send you kids to college? What did you do to cope?

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  • EndofDaze

    Oh, our hearts bleed! Look, fact of the matter, there is absolutely, no reason why kids in the area should not be going to their local Public Schools, except for the fact that people like this, look down on the Public system, as being not safe, viable, or conducive to the things the parents want them to be exposed to, and believe are not being taught in the Public Schools. In the case of the supposedly religious Jews, they came here to create their own ghetto, and have no sense of the concept of “E Pluribus Unum” which the overwhelming majority of Jews, mostly non religious, but otherwise observant, who once lived here, strived for. With all their supposed problems, schools like FDR, Fort Hamilton. New Utrecht, and Madison, which these four youngsters, could have easily gone to, have some excellent programs, and an overall decent student body, with teachers who are probably fully licensed and certified.That is not to say, that places like Kearney and the Yeshivahs, do not serve their purpose, and have fully qualified pedagogues too, but if these groups who now choose to send their children to private institutions, sent their kids to the Public Schools, those schools would become even better, as they once were… One thing you can be sure of, don’t expect these kids to garner any Nobel Prizes, become magnanimous, or otherwise highly successful citizens, because even today, the overwhelming majority of our best and brightest, are still, coming out of the Public Schools! And this is coming from someone, who has taught with success, in ALL of these venues!!!

    • bagels

      I can not agree with you more. My son went to Catholic elementary and then on to Catholic High school. He is currently a freshman at NYU-Poly. Half way through his first semester he realized he was woefully unprepared for the math and college level writing that is expected of high school grads. He made it through but it was a tremendous struggle.

      My daughter went to the same catholic elementary school but decided she wanted no part of catholic high school so she auditioned and got into Murrow. There is free tutoring at all of the hours of the day and other opportunities that were not available to my son (all free). She’s taking AP classes and signed up for College Now courses. Anyone considering spending thousands of dollars for these catholic schools should get over their fear of public schools, especially if you live in districts 21 and 22.

  • Maria

    And my daughter received a wonderful education at said school where she was in a very safe and nurturing environment that enabled her to pursue her interest in engineering. Bishop Kearney High School is indeed an excellent school. It is worth every penny spent on tuition!

  • guest123

    The public school high schools themselves are fine, curriculum, teachers, resources, technology, would send my kid in a minute. However it’s the crap that you find in them, even in the so called “audition schools”. Disrespectful youth with no moral and ethical direction. Walking though metal detectors is not exactly what I would call looking up to the public school system. Parents who choose Catholic school education have a stake in their children’s future. Making sacrifices to afford 10K a year tuition, you better believe that we and the teachers are on top of our kids making sure they are college ready. 100% graduation rate and over 23 million dollars of scholarships were awarded to last years graduation class. I know al least 10 public school teachers high school and elementary……every single one of them has their children in catholic schools…..wonder why?

  • Barbara

    I’m wondering how they spend only $200 a week on food for a family of seven.

    As for college, financial aid is not only based on income, but also on the number of students in school at the same time. They may be pleasantly surprised when the grants come in, and their girls will most likely qualify for the work-study program to earn spending money,

    Starting in a community college can pay off if all, or most of the credits are transferable.

    I’d forgo the borrowing for now. It’s too easy for kids to get into debt.

  • Brooklynmama

    How about this, just a suggestion, why don’t these kids get jobs and help pay for some of the cost? Are they going to just sit back and act like they are entitled to everything just because they think they’re special?