1. Receive a bachelors degree while doing the same sort of things you would need to do to get a good job at the end - reasonable GPA, internships and/or research.

2. Apply to PhD programs.

For engineering advanced degrees, and I believe for the sciences as well, usually the professor you are working with will have grant money to pay for grad students which will go towards your tuition and stipend.

If you aren’t working with a professor doing research, you may have the option of being a TA, which would cover your tuition and stipend.

I never went to grad school, so others may be able to provide more detail.

This is correct, there are a lot more funded PhD places in engineering and science than there are in the arts and social sciences.

Of course, an economist would point to the 'opportunity cost' [1] - if you leave a job paying £30,000 after tax to take a PhD with a tax-free stipend of £15,009 the 'opportunity cost' of doing a PhD is £14,991 a year.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost [2] https://www.ukri.org/skills/funding-for-research-training/

For my MSEE, my RA position paid (not a lot, but enough for food and rent), and gave in-state tuition. I also TA’d one class which gave me free tuition. So essentially I was paid to go to grad school.