To a startup company, young, talented engineers are akin to Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Rihanna.

That’s why startups hoping to hire engineering talent have a nightmarish HR challenge. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t fighting for promising staff.

In fact, at least 25 startups, including mobile payments darling Square, are coming together this fall to sponsor a nationwide bus tour that will cruise 25 campuses. Hacker Tour 2012, the name of the recruitment campaign, aims to link fast growing startups with top computer science and engineering students. Among the bus pit stops are Northwestern University, University of Michigan, Cornell University, Standard University and Harvard University.

The tour is sponsored by San Francisco-based Readyforce, a college student recruitment company, which will promote its sponsors and their career opportunities at career fairs and custom student events during its bus tour campaign.

“We developed Hacker Tour 2012 to close the gap for many companies seeking better access to college candidates but working with limited resources,” said Readyforce CEO Alex Mooradian in a statement. “Sponsoring companies want to employ engineering and computer science candidates now. ”

Square’s sponsorship of the college bus tour isn’t its first invasion of college campuses. Last December, the startup posted an online want ad that sought students to channel their inner salesperson and spread its payment message to local businesses, vendors and student groups.

What’s a college degree without getting hired after all?