You were also lucky to have an understanding employer who was happy to invest on your growth. A lot of people can't get approval to do a one-week, job-relevant, practical training course, let alone sponsor years of higher education.
Very true. I had several bosses who really fought for me, both for promotions to positions that a non-degreed person never held, and for approval of educational reimbursement. Although regarding the latter, it was a defense contractor and they get reimbursed by the government for those costs. So there were really no cases where someone pursuing a relevant degree would be turned down for reimbursement.
