This was due to "taint" from over-education, etc.
Otherwise, you needed a degree or some very solid accomplishments to be looked at for a top eCommerce / tech firm. Many financial firms require a 4 year degree or a sign-off from a Senior Manager.
Most of my roles were $90-140,000
You only "hurt" your career if you wish to stay in a corporate climbing-the-ladder world. EG: progressively moving up in pay / title, non-degree's seem to have $5-$15,000 less salary in my experience.
The most important long-term indicator of income was (my Google skills are failing me for citation) the first position. If you started low ($30-$35,000), in 10 years, you will of course still be behind your peers who started at $50-$60,000. The first position out of school also tended to keep you "stuck" in that track.
But, these are "averages" and nothing is limiting but your own ambition and drive.
haha, I had considered this route since I have a BS in CS/math and MS in math and I figured they would like that more. apparently not. I like working 40 hours a week anyways at an employer that pays more more for the MS.
...and will just take the financial actuarial exams if I want in that route anyways.
If you're looking to work for startup and/or small firms, it's probably not going to matter. You've got a gig right now, they're going to care about what you did and learned at that gig. I know that my company doesn't care about what your degree is in or where it's from. Hell, all that has become is a measure of how much debt you and your parents were willing to accomodate.
If you're looking to work for a big firm, I dunno, Google or something, it's probably going be something they'll use to vet resumes.
This is not new advice, but now that you have your degree focus on creating stuff. Do something in the open source community. Blog the things you learn here and there. Your experiences and your portfolio of work is far more important to a smart hiring authority than some damn diploma.