It should be pointed out that Engineering education is broken. For some reason they take it as a point of pride that 50% of engineering students drop out (or fail) in the first year. To my opinion, eating your young is something to be ashamed of. No wonder there's a lack of work force if they're creating this huge obstacle to success.

As for salary, a good Engineer can be making over 100,000 five years out of school. It's not f&k you* money, but it's nothing to shrug off.