Teen Who Sued Parents Picks College After Getting $56,000 Scholarship

By Mike Pignataro

Morris County, New Jersey – The teen who sued her parents for tuition costs and living expenses has decided to attend Western New England University after receiving a $56,000 scholarship.

Rachel Canning made the announcement Sunday on her Facebook page. According to her post, she plans to be a biomedical engineering major.

Western New England University, located in Springfield, Mass., will cost $46,154 for tuition, fees and room and board for full-time undergraduate students in the 2014-15 school year.

Canning's lawsuit against her parents was dismissed last month. Family Division Judge Peter Bogaard ruled in Morristown that he “found that (Rachel’s) decision to dismiss the litigation was a knowing and voluntary decision,” and he ordered the case dismissed.

Canning moved back into her parents' Lincoln Park home last month after she had been staying with a friend in Rockaway Township since two days before her 18th birthday in October.

Her friend's father, John Inglesino, the municipal attorney for Parsippany-Troy Hills Township and former Rockaway Township mayor and Morris County freeholder, bankrolled the legal fees Canning needed for the suit.

Canning's request for more than $5,000 in tuition costs for Morris Catholic, college application fees, living and travel expenses and future tuition payments for the college she decides to attend was denied by a judge earlier this month.

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