Part of my desire to return to school is that after encountering functional programming over the past year or so (first through lisp, then haskell), I've found something that I'm really interested in, but that it feels the amount of learning I can do around a job just won't cut it to get to the level that I want. That's the personal reason; the practical reason is that I think it would be a good networking opportunity (hankering to start my own company, and not meeting the right kinds of people), and obviously increase my chance of getting better paying, but especially more *interesting* jobs. I have some savings, figure loans would cover the rest, and no wife or kids. I wouldn't expect to make large amounts of money as a Haskell code monkey any time soon. On the other hand, if you want to start a software business that specializes in solving problems in Haskell rather
Thomas Hartman wrote: than Java or C++ then you might have more luck. See "Beating the Averages" by Paul Graham for more on this subject. (Also, read everything else by PG if you are thinking along these lines). If you are already a hacker then "the right kinds of people" to start a company with may not be the ones you find in a Masters or Bachelor comp-sci course. Different people have different views on this, of course. Good luck, and let us know how you get on. Paul.