Attending a top 5 school gives you a much higher starting point and opens up more opportunities. If you are able to find coops during summers and have above average grades, you shouldn't have much difficulty in getting a decent job after graduation. Then $80k in debt is okay to take. I graduated from Engineering Science, UofT, one of top engineering programs in Canada. Very few of my classmates couldn't find a job within half year after graduation. Trade schools are pretty good too. Licensed contractors can be their own bosses and make very decent money everywhere. Sales/marketing is not for everybody. At least not for me. I don't like dealing with customers in general.