I have no knowledge, but my gut tells me that someone busting their butt to stand out is someone I might want to be associated with.<p>If it's a piece of paper from MIT/NW/etc. rather than U of Phoenix (not hating), I'd pay attention to it/you in a different way -- I'd say, "Oh, you're upper-class, you're one of us, therefore you're a safer hire".<p>Then again, I wasn't raised upper-class, so I don't know if that's actually how upper class people think when they hire, but i met someone recently who, when i said my most enjoyable job was at a startup in Palo Alto because everyone was _really smart_ and just _got it_ -- he was like YES!<p>It was like, he wanted to be around winners - high achievers - or at least people who were well-born - that's how I took it, anyways.<p>And so I suspect spending that relatively tiny bit of cash would be 'worth it' -- probably x10+ within 10 years in pure monetary ROI. And plenty of intangible benefits.<p>There are people who think school/uni is about learning. That's fine.<p>And there are folks posting to HN right now saying MBAs are worthless. Ok.<p>I'm actually surprised you'd be able to spend that little on a cert, but I guess there are all sorts of certs, mini-certs, programs, etc.<p>I suspect it would actually be pretty fun if you were actually interested in the material, or at least interested in finding out if you were interested in the material.<p>If you're lucky, if you can control your diet and not have too much bad luck, you'll probably live to 100. So, spend the cash. That's my take.<p>And make friends with the people in your classes.