Most employers should look favorably on it. I did something similar to what you are doing back in 2005 (ex navy nuke, just out of college), and when I was doing a job search, there was one employer who lowballed me. I wasn't going to take the job unless they offered me a WHOLE lot of money. It wasn't a good fit for me, but I was still curious, so I asked the HR person, and she said because I had not been working in nuclear for the last 3 years I would take a lower amount. It was the only time it happened, and the HR department there seemed unproffessional in other ways I'm not going to go into. The HR rep I talked to seemed flighty and was very young. I would say you probably don't want to work for a place that looks at you going after your degree in any kind of negative light. Doesn't say a whole lot for that organization as a whole. Every other company I talked to thought it was a positive to have a degree on top of experience and I've been payed much more than others in 2 different jobs in part due to my degree, and it isn't even related to nuclear power. Most people love to see that degree, more at some places, less at others. What really seems to turn them on is if you have everything they are looking for PLUS the degree. It seems to be icing on the cake as long as all or most of your other ducks are in a row, and it may get you the job or a higher rate of pay while others may not get the job or will be at a lower rate of pay. But not always....