"To many American university students would rather spend their college years pulling bong-hits while they major in "Literature of Contemporary Protest" and "Peace Studies" and leave the mechanical engineering classes filled with students named Amir, Singh and Mohammed."
Not necessarily. I was an undergrad in mechanical engineering only two years ago, and my graduating class of 21 students had only three non-US citizens (one from Vietnam, the others from former Soviet Bloc countries). No one from India or the Middle East. At least in mechanical engineering, undergrads were almost uniformly white American males (with a smattering of women and minority men).
The grad students, however, were overwhelmingly from China and India. One professor's lab was known by a rather derogatory name since he was Turkish and had only Turkish men as his grad students. I was friendly with several of the Indian grad students. For the most part the Indians were pleasant and often willing to help undergrads with coursework. Most of them planned to return to India after getting their doctorate. I cannot say the same for most of the grad students from other countries.
In this state, most employers of mechanical engineers are companies in the defense industry. You can't be designing nuclear reactors or submarines for the Navy, or fighter enginers for the Air Force if you're not a citizen - and you usually need a security clearance as well. There is a ready market around here for entry-level engineers with citizenship. I had three job offers from defense contractors AFTER I'd already accepted my current position in the civilian sector.
But I agree, too many students would rather have a fluff major and spend 4-5 years partying instead of working hard and having a good job after graduation. As I told my dorm neighbor (an Urban Studies major) - what's the point in moving out to go to college if you're going to have to move back home with Mom and Dad after graduation?
Oh well, we need someone to flip hamburgers...might as well be the Peace Studies majors...
Almost all BA undergrads are useless by themselves. I got my BA in Poli Sci but I knew I was going to go to grad school after college. I lived with five guys in college- three of us went to law school, one went to med school, one went to Business School. Only one guy ended up working in his BA field (Journalism).
I've spent my entire career as an engineer in both the aerospace and defense sector with a short detour in nuclear power.
You can enter the sector either as a technician (no degree required) or as an engineer (degree required).
Most large defense contractors will reimburse you for any costs you incur while pursuing an advanced degree.
I would recommend a masters but not a PHD. PHD's are a waste of time unless you want to teach at the University or do pure research. Hands on experience in design, devlopment, testing and production is were the action is. To work in this area as a MTS (Member Technical Staff) requires a BS in engineering as a minimum.
Defense contractors put a premium on ex military technicians as well as engineers. If you put ex military in your resume, especially if you have experience with a weapon system that the company is currently manufacturing and maintaing you are almost guaranteed a job.
At my company ex-submariners (both enlisted and officers) were common. Many of the ex-Navy officers were graduates of Annapolis.
There are also many good careers working for the Dept of Defense as a federal employee. The government has a multitude of aeropspace/defense testing and research facilities throughout the US. Just think; Rumsfeld could be your boss. ;^).