We recently got a Mechanical Engineer Intern from a top 50 Engineering school in the US. He asked my salary and was completely surprised when I said 6 figures. I asked what he thought I made and he said the college said max Mechanical Engineers make is around 80 and 70 is more realistic. I told him once he gets his degree he should be able to start off at 70k. I guess they just want to say they get all of their graduates a job after college and they must not worry about trying to get them all top salaries. Tuition is $55k per year. (The school I went to the tuition is now 11k).