The FIRST program pits high school teams against each other in competitions. The 'bots are remote controlled, and the stuff to build the 'bots costs about 5 grand. The kits include wheelchair motors, circuits, everything the team needs. I went to a competition in San Jose. It was incredible. Hundreds of people cheering on ROBOTS, for crying out loud. One of the tasks was to grab beach balls and put them in these goals. Another was to lift the bot off the ground from a wire ten feet above the platform.
FIRST fosters engineering in high school. The FIRST Lego League does the same thing for 4th to 8th graders. The top teams of FIRST get cracks at engineering scholarships and the like; MIT, Ford, etc., actually scout these tournaments. FLL top teams meet to compete against teams from all over the world. One team from my kid's school went this year. It's insane fun. usfirst.org is the website.
Lego is a major player in robotics. A cheap way to get into the field.