@guyk27 Thanks for the useful information. To be clear, my point did not concern the desirability of an engineering career, but rather that, like accounting programs, engineering curricula are pretty similar from university to university.
Your PE stats sound about right. I work as an attorney with a lot of engineers in the public utility sector. Most are not PEs and don’t need to be as long as someone in the corporation is. And I do see more civil engineering PEs, because they have to certify construction documents.
I take your point that older engineers may have employment issues. I remember the big layoffs experienced by aerospace engineers after the government cut back defense and NASA spending in the 70s. I would also be concerned if I were starting as a freshman petroleum engineering major. This year, they were the highest payed graduates. With oil below $50 per barrel, I doubt that 2015-16 graduates will be as fortunate.
Still, as I think you agree, an engineering education is extremely useful. Engineering students must be smart, disciplined, and team players, skills that highly valued by employers in all kinds of businesses. I know several medical doctors, including my wife’s brother, who first graduated with engineering degrees. Engineers also tend to do very well on the LSAT and GMAT exams and are well represented in top law school and graduate business programs. My oldest son is an aerospace engineering major and is already thinking about patent law.