Having the piece of paper, if you can get it (relatively) cheap, is very nice just to avoid ever having to talk about not having it. It's a whole conversation i

Having the piece of paper, if you can get it (relatively) cheap, is very nice just to avoid ever having to talk about not having it. It's a whole conversation in many interviews (or a conversation that doesn't happen but that you'll be stressed about happening) that you can totally erase. Evening, weekend, and online classes are a thing and can be cheapish, especially if you're not going to a very well-known school (and if you're not, the name of the school is basically irrelevant, so do what's cheap). If you don't already have kids or other time-consuming obligations, working through school part-time over a few years 100% achievable while still having tons of free time. Also look into CLEP tests, as they can kill years (at part-time hours) of college credits quickly and at low cost.