I guess that I just assumed that almost everyone in a MSCS program will have to work at least part-time, since (as a general rule) very few stipends are handed

I guess that I just assumed that almost everyone in a MSCS program will have to work at least part-time, since (as a general rule) very few stipends are handed out to Masters students. PhD students, on the other hand, are at least able to focus mostly on their chosen area of research after the first couple of years. Personally, I'd love to get the chance to go back to school full-time, but there's the slight issue of never having earned my bachelor's degree to get through first. It doesn't seem to have had a negative effect on my performance in the grad school classes I've taken so far, but I don't think many institutions are interested in offering full graduate admission to undergrad drop-outs.