Is it worth it? My employer offers a very good tuition reimbursement program (90%) but I am trying to decide if it is worth the time and effort. I’ve been a professional web developer for over 5 years now but as a design major turned programmer, I was never formally exposed to the conventional Computer Science curriculum of data structures, algorithm design, compiler/language theory, etc. I have gradually escalated my skills from simple ActionScript and HTML/CSS to more OO ActionScript and server-side development to AS3 and Flex, with a bit of dabbling in Java and C# to top it all off. I try to continually improve and grow my skills, read up on things like Design Patterns and theory, and am now wondering if a formal Computer Science program (or something similar) is the best way to continue that and take it to the next level.

Are there things you can’t learn from a book/article/tutorial/experimenting? Do you have a master’s degree? Would you get one if it was super cheap? Do employers care about that stuff? These are all questions I am curious about. On one hand I think it would be cool to have the degree, would look good on a resume, would be a good example to my children, etc, but on the other hand I wonder if my time wouldn’t be better spent learning on my own, trial by fire stylie. Enrolling in a program would almost certainly result in taking classes I am not interested in and that don’t really apply to my career goals/interests, so I wonder if my 10% of the cost would be better applied to my Amazon card and a self-imposed course of study.

What do you think? Should I take the plunge?