I spent 20 years as an engineer and I know this, you get what you pay for.
It takes time to develop an experienced engineer.
The real world is way more complex than school was.
You need mentors and collaboration.
Absolutely. Some college engineering programs have mandatory summer COOPS. The Maritime College in Maine has a mandatory 3 month cadet shipping requirement. The deck and engineering students are requried to serve on US flagged merchant ship and submit a detailed report upon completion.
What seriously worries me is that with all this outsourcing, we aren’t growing our own next generation of engineers.