Divorced South Jersey Parents Forced to Pay Estranged Daughter's College Tuition

A judge reaffirmed his decision that divorced parents who haven’t seen their estranged daughter in two years must pay her college tuition.

The parents of Caitlyn Ricci, 21, have been ordered to pay $906 for the time she spent attended Rowan College at Gloucester County, N.J., according to philly.com.

Still in question is $16,000 for her college tuition at Temple University.

Her parents, Michael Ricci and Maura McGreevey, were ordered to pay that tuition this year and in the future after she filed a lawsuit.

The case is similar to the matter involving Rachel Canning, an 18-year-old Morris Catholic senior from Lincoln Park, who made national headlines earlier this year when she sued her parents for private school tuition and living expenses after moving out of her home in the fall of 2013.

Her parents have refused to pay the tuition, and following the most recent court decision, Michael wrote that he is disappointed in the New Jersey Family Court system.

“The bottom line is, she made a mistake when she got kicked out of her internship program,” Ricci wrote. “There are consequences for her actions. She didn’t want to abide by our rules, so she left. We asked her several times to come home and she never did.”

He went on to say it makes his ”blood boil” listening to a judge tell him his daughter can attend any college she wants and that her parents have to pay for it.

Michael Ricci and Maura McGarvey were married two-and-a half years, according to the report. However, they worked together to raise their daughter, but she left two years ago.

There are conflicting viewpoints as to whether she left to live with her grandparents or she was kicked out, according to 6 ABC.

New Jersey law states divorced parents may be required to contribute to their child’s education, regardless of age, according to the report.

She currently attends Temple University. As an out-of-state student, her tuition is higher than it would have been had she remained in state, as her parents requested.

She is a graduate of Washington Township High School in Gloucester County, according to nj.com.

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