Here in Tennessee, any student is eligible to get two years of tuition paid for at an in-state community college or other approved institution. The student still has to pay for books, and a few other minor fees, but the tuition is free for up to five semesters. There is a minimum grade requirement that must be maintained, and a ridiculously low number of volunteer hours (only 8) each semester.
My son will graduate next Spring with Associates in Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Maintenance Engineering Technology. The classes have quite a bit of lab and hands-on components. He wants to transfer to UT to finish the four-year ME degree afterwards, but I convinced him that it’s always good to skills you can fall back on. Employers are down at the school every at the end of every semester trying to hire kids because the lack of skilled tradesman is challenging when looking for new employees.
I would recommend that your son take a class or two in control systems / SCADA. In particular, security for those system. Yeah, it is kind of specific ... but there is a lot of demand.