Master’s degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the main campus. In a field that I’m not involved with now, but it has come in useful over the years.
PhD in hydrogeology as of a year ago. I’m working in my field, currently in a multi-year fellowship at a research institution.
I didn’t start grad school until I was 32, when I left a lucrative but horrendously boring engineering career to do it. The pay cut took some planning and adjustment (it definitely helped that my SO was working), but I’ve never regretted it - I wake up in the morning and enjoy going to work. That almost never happened before school, and it almost always happens now.
MS in Structural Engineering. Turns out that the top structural engineering firms typically only hire engineers with at least an MS, so it worked out well for me. If I had to do it over again, I would go to a less theoretical grad school though - it would have been great prep for a PhD but in terms of practicing engineering it didn’t help much, except to land a job. It did count as a year of experience when I went to get a P.E., so I guess that was helpful too.
In a strange (at least to me) career twist, I am currently working for a law firm doing patent writing and prosecution. My master’s is even less useful to me now!
MS in Counseling and Guidance. It helped me on the pay scale in my district. I’ve never used it.
Oh, and as for the experience, I got to live in Hawaii for 2-1/2 years. 'Nuff said.
(Plus met my future wife there, a fellow student.)
Not sure what that means. 
Criminal defense produces a lot of good stories, but they don’t pay the bills. The problem is that cops disproportionately arrest poor people. I keep telling them to arrest more rich folks. But they don’t listen to me.
He he he.
Not just one paper, LinusK; I’ve been writing/researching and giving conference papers on the Kinks several times a year since 2004. Couple of them were expanded into articles (in peer reviewed journals! It still makes me giggle), and a set of them are the core of a book that’s in production.
What’s awesome is that the school would actually reimburse me for concert tickets, but I tend to save my research money for the ancient and early medieval bits that I do. I have actually given a paper for a symposium at the British Museum that compares the reputation of medieval string players (citole, cittern, but not really lute) with 1950s and 60s early rock and roll performers. It’s currently in editorial hell at the moment, as the person meant to be editing the entire collection has thrown all of her toys out of the pram and refuses to continue with the work.
I was wondering when an MBA would show up. I also have an MBA, from Kellogg/Northwestern. The school experience was fun - it was the first year the Business Week rankings came out, and we were #1 over the usual suspects, so it was a big splash.
It was part of the pedigree to get on the path I was looking for, and remains one of those checklist items that gets touched on if I find myself in a networking situation, e.g., talking with recruiters. The actual education was more of a Finishing School - how to take a CompSci undergrad who worked at HP for a few years like me and make them presentable and conversant in a more-businessy setting.
MA in Public Policy Studies. I got a full scholarship as U of C was starting up and trying to attract people, so I was lucky to get out without debt. It was when I realized how much I don’t apply myself, avoid risk, and don’t get much out of opportunities given to me. I don’t use it at all.
/Debbie Downer
MS in electrical engineering.
Please make room on the couch, Zsofia, Lsura, LibrarySpy, Motorgirl, and Lasciel: I have a Master’s degree in Library & Information Science too. 
I’ve got to say, though: I did find mine both informative and helpful. And to date, it’s the only grad degree I’ve got that has ever earned me a dime (though not much more than that!) I’m out of librarianship now and working as a prospect research analyst, a position that comes with better hours and slightly more pay.
I also could chill with BlakeTyner since I’ve got a Master’s degree in English, language specialization. While it was interesting to do most of the coursework, the degree was pretty well worthless once I’d graduated. I’d intended to go on to my Ph.D but the politics and back-stabbing nonsense made me sick.
PhD in history. Got a tenure track job first year out, tenured about 15 years ago, still plugging away happily in academia.
In Canada, once out of law school, you need to article for a year with a more senior lawyer before you can get called to the bar.
Well, I’m still not sure what an article for a year is, but I’ve got a brief on a writ of habeas corpus I’m dying to file. It challenges the Texas “Improper Photography” law on 1st Amendent grounds. I need a client first though. I’ll send it to you f you like.
I mentioned before, I have a Doctor of Pharmacy, it is the only degree offered now to practice pharmacy (when over ten years ago could still get B.S Pharmacy) ,and like couple of folks here I went to UT Austin. It is the only doctorate that is entry level, doesn’t require a BA or BA beforehand (I think pre-optometry is the same way, but most enter optometry with a degree already). It is degree inflation as I believe one also would need to get a doctorate to practice physical therapy nowadays (with those w/Bachelor’s would be grandfathered in )
Of all ironies, a PharmD. isn’t much if you want to go beyond in pharmacy, so you have to do residency or get into graduate school. If you are doing staff pharmacy (Like I am, doctorate and those with B.S. do the same thing) then don’t need to do all that extra.
I have an MA in the Humanities from UChicago (my focus was literature). I’m not sure how useful it’s been. I really enjoyed the experience though. It was a very intense program but one of the most memorable years of my life. After I graduated I worked as an adjunct for a year but it sucked. Long commutes and low pay. I eventually returned to Korea to teach English - a more lucrative career than slaving away at community colleges. My MA has made it possible for me to earn a higher salary than most, teaching actual literature (rather than ESL, which is what most teachers do here). Practically speaking, though, anyone with a BA in English literature (who gave a shit when they were in school) could probably teach what I teach. But the Korean market is currently saturated with foreigners trying to pay off their crippling student debt back home, so having an MA definitely makes my resume stand out.
PhD in (theoretical) math. It didn’t cost me anything (aside from room and board, since I was on campus for the duration). I’d definitely do it over again, though I’d definitely do it over again at a different university.
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. Best move I ever made. I split my time between teaching at a university and consulting to industry. Both allow me to get paid obscene amounts of money for flapping my jaws and stroking my beard.
Right on!
By the time I was a junior or senior in college, I had become so impressed with the English faculty that I knew I wanted to teach at the college level. I took my six month break after graduation (where your student loans are deferred) and then jumped into the Master’s program. I knew enough by that point to know that I didn’t want a PhD–well, if money weren’t a factor, I’d get one for pure satisfaction–because I’m not cut out for “publish or perish.”
I wanted to teach rather than research and publish.
I was fortunate enough to get a part-time job teaching developmental English at the local community college while I wrote my thesis, since one only needs a B.A. to cover those courses. And, again, fortune struck when that college posted 2 full-time openings in the ENGL department 3 months after I graduated. So I ended up being one of the few who got the first full-time job I applied for in academia, and without having to move. 5 years in now.
I wouldn’t say the degree is completely useless outside of teaching; two major railroads have been recruiting me for years for their management programs. Some of that is that I have a background in the industry and specialized expertise, but from what I’ve been told, communication skills are near the top of the list of the HR folks.