errr, the quality of the education (by which you of course only mean secular education) is subpar by choice (in the schools you are referring to). There are other schools that manage a fine quality. The 12-15K amount that you mention is by and large used to subsidize the non-paying families.
BTW, you just gave away your identity (to me). There are only 3 frum girls who became engineers at CCNY in recent years. Not all of them took internships at ConEd either. (Of course, I doubt that others in the CR will be able to access the information I have).