I would like to pursue an online mechanical engineering master’s degree. It will probably be a M. Eng. degree, but I have also seen MSME degrees offered online that do not require research or a thesis (NC State is an example). It doesn’t really matter to me. The M. Eng. would be great as I don’t care about research, I simply want to take classes.
A little bit about myself: I have been working for about 2 years as a mechanical engineer at a job that I love here in VA. I graduated from Old Dominion University with a BSME with a 3.93 gpa. I have passed the FE exam and will be taking the GRE soon.
Here’s my dilemma, my current employer will not pay my tuition. If I didn’t love the job, I would find another employer to pay my tuition, or I would attend on campus and receive funding through research or TA/GRA.
If you were in my shoes what would you do? I can’t seem to make up my mind. On my current salary I could afford an online master’s out of pocket, but it would suck. My current employer is very flexible with hours and even will let me do some school work at work if I need to. For this reason, it would be easy to pursue a master’s while working for this company (except for the whole payment dilemma).
My thoughts right now are that if I pay for it out of pocket then I am at least better off than working as a TA/GRA. This is because I am bringing in more money (even after paying tuition) than I would be as a TA/GRA. It’s also an investment that will benefit me throughout my life, and I could easily spend the same amount of money on a new truck which won’t pay me back nearly as much 
Any advise would be appreciated.