On a general level, did you or your classmates general fund these masters degrees themselves? And what is the career path / expected compensation after completion of program? Asking as a web dev with only a few years experience but making ok startup-world money. I'm curious, being interested in such a route but also a little older and trying to catch up financially after a pre-tech career.
I believe it is similar compensation as a software engineer with a specialty (front end, data engineering, databases, etc.). I would not recommend this career path to anyone that is in it for the money, but rather to do it because they find machine learning personally fulfilling. These other specialties can be personally fulfilling as well, and many of my close friends have a specialty that is not machine learning and are very happy with their career.