In the UK a B.Eng recognises around 4yrs of structured academic learning including a thorough grounding in fundamentals/first-principles, higher level maths, and usually 1 yr industrial placement.
As the OP alludes, a degree has to be combined with relevant experience to be worth anything to a company wanting to earn money off the back of a potential employee. This rather than offering a just a trainee position.
Just to share fzabkars "irk" here, Engineer term has been gradually eroded from one who designs and builds systems to one that can maintain or simply drive "an engine".
Favourite "irk" here : fridge/washing machine/telephone self titled "engineers" (repairmen).
Usually elicits a "oh right, where did you graduate?" question from me.
In base terms "So Mr Engineer, how long have you been designing all this sh1t or .... ?"
Companies don't help matters by offering the term as a status symbol: title of Production Engineer given to a +10yrs-exp but non-qual'd employee moving jobs internally and needing to see a "promotion" but wouldn't know his x-axis from his y.
and the obligatory engineer joke:
There are only 10 types of engineer: those that understand binary and those that don't.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
just my 2cents/pennies/рубль
Kern