They are extrapolating the $70k figure: "When Rios graduates next year, he plans to work as a fabricator at a local equipment maker for nuclear, recycling and

They are extrapolating the $70k figure: "When Rios graduates next year, he plans to work as a fabricator at a local equipment maker for nuclear, recycling and other sectors, a job that pays $24 an hour, plus regular overtime and paid vacations." This sounds like a union job, and the $70k figure sounds like towards the upper end due to hierarchy, so realistically he'll be earning maybe half of that for a couple years first.