True, but it should not have been mutually exclusive. Getting both the theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge would boost a person's career many folds.
"Many folds" is very unlikely unless you're already grossly underpaid. A small percentage? Maybe. Enough to justify the cost of attendance? Again, maybe if you're going the OMSCS route and you're only out $7k. If you drop $30k on a master's you'll be lucky you make that up even before considering inflation, opportunity cost, etc.
I have a BA in Political Science and about a decade as a software developer. The next step in my career would be better served by an MBA than an MSCS. I'm not even sure I could break even if I did GT's OMSCS out of pocket as I'm about as high up as I can get and still use data structure and algorithm knowledge on a daily (let's be honest - weekly at best) basis.
