The Real World: BME graduates reflect on whether universities are providing adequate preparation for a career in industry.

Let?s face it: In the United States, a college degree isn?t what it used to be. These days, 46% of recent college graduates consider themselves underemployed and in jobs that do not require their college degrees?degrees that have already cost many of these grads and their families hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, with no promise of a job and salary to pay those loans back. But engineering majors are said to be outliers. Engineering as a field is widely considered one of, if not the most, lucrative academic paths for students seeking well-paid employment immediately following college. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that nearly 40% of the 45 most highly paid professions that require only a bachelor?s degree are in engineering. Salaries for all biomedical engineers, entry level or not, are among the highest, with a median pay of US$86,960. And engineering departments at colleges are not shy to advertise these numbers: the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Texas, Austin, declares on its Web page that, ?electing to graduate with a major in biomedical engineering opens the door to an ever-growing amount of job opportunities,? citing a 72%, ten-year job growth forecast. Boston University?s program cites U.S. News and World Report?s claim that BME is the country?s fastest-growing occupation.