Kids coming out of State with a baccalaureate in Electrical Engineering are picking from any of several offers in the $40-60k starting range, because we need engineers so badly. My friend's son graduated from the Colorado School of Mines last year, and the week after he graduated he was offered (and accepted) a position with BHP starting at $85k. If anyone wonders why the United States is slipping as a world power in science and technology, just look at the giant X on the chart of Engineer Demand vs Engineering Graduates. The future doesn't look good.... "Ooooh, but those degrees are SOOOO hard! There's no time to party!"