It's a major advantage. I went to the same state university for my masters, so to me it was a continuation of my undergrad but in classes I was actually interes

It's a major advantage. I went to the same state university for my masters, so to me it was a continuation of my undergrad but in classes I was actually interested in. Even dumping money into a startup, I graduated with a low amount of debt. I lived a thrifty lifestyle, made money from internships, and after my sign on bonus for my full time job, I was debt free after graduation. My concentration for my MS was AI & Computer Networks...which I've never used :) Because of market forces I'm an application developer. I graduated 11 years ago and between then and now (married, 2 kids) I doubt I would have found the time and motivation to go back to school. It was around the housing crisis and jobs were crappy/not available so that was another motivation to do my MS. I also had the connections to form a startup (which failed) with other peers which has lead me to my current career.