ME is still a good field to be into. You can do a lot more with ME than you think, or any engineering focus for that matter. You'd be surprised where you could get hired just by having any sort of Engineering degree.

For example, the Southern Company (IE, GA Power) is currently expanding as far as Nuclear Power goes and SPSU and Southern Company have started working on a curriculum for this. BUT, you don't even have to be a Nuclear Engineer to become one. The job is trained ON SITE. You don't come near any real equipment for 5yrs until you're through training! No offence to the Nuclear Engineers coming out of GA Tech. but those guys mainly just know their reactors. EVERYONE still has to be tailored for the job. So with that said, you could be a Civil Eng. and be tailored for the job. Pay is very high for starters.

So keep that in mind. An engineering degree from a good accredited college will go a long way, even if it's just a bachelors. I'd recommend you go for it or you don't. Once you start you need to dedicate yourself to finish, or else you'll just be wasting your time and money from the start.

In the Atlanta Area, I'd recommend Southern Poly(SPSU) in Marietta or G-Tech. Don't even bother with Devry. Their program is similar to getting an MET degree from GA Southern, while SPSU's MET degree is very comparable to G-Tech and is more intense than people think it is.