There are actually several questions here when working out in an MFE is a 'good' investment.
1: Does it have a positive expectation of returns.
Yes, but note the word expectation, interpret everything I write here in math finance terms, not ordinary English.
2: Is it the optimal investment for me ?
Almost certainly not.
I can say this even though I don't know you. The problem is that it's very very hard to work out what will be good over the 40 years you will be getting returns from this investment.
3: What does it do to my risk ?
Almost no one asks this, which is bad.
Education has the effect of reducing your downside risk, and increasing the optionality of any given situation. Although Real Ooption Theory is barely covered on most MFEs, the intuitions you gain are critical to optimising your career.
At some point you will be screwed over by the market, your boss, changes in technology, regulation, the economy, or your country going to war. That's a fact. Arts graduates and evangelicals lack the depth to understand that the world of 2025 will be very different. I have no idea what will come to get you, but it's already on it's way.
I'm 48, and even now from time to time I find my brain going back over decades of shit I learned for no obvious reason, and finding it useful. If I knew more, I'd be richer.
4: Are you personally good at this stuff ?
Some people I know make good money out of really dismal lines of work, because they are masters of it. Even in the boom, some people with good qualifications struggled because they weren't in a line of work that they could beat others.
5:Are you foreign ?
Banking is spreading out, both in terms of the people who do it, and where it is done. China has a more primitive banking system than Zimbabwe, that's going to change, India is better but in no way good, that needs to change as well. But for a a long time, most money will be made in London, NY etc. Can you work the visa system ? What is your plan B ?
6. Do you speak English ?
I've spoken with Dan Stefanica on this topic, and been reassured that Baruch is taking a tough love approach to this. If you can't speak English you're fucked in this line of work. Some universities take a softer line, and turn out semi educated peasants.
7. Do you cheat at the coursework ?
I'm impressed by high quality cheating, google on Ed Thorpe Claude Shannon Shoe Computer for that. But last night I dined with the head of maths at one of the top 10 global universities, and was treated to a list of very low quality cheating. Cut & paste, commissioned course work, "group efforts", etc. He wouldn't tell me names of course, but I rather think that P&D might invest a little time on this.
A degree from a top school can easily cost more than a Porsche. Cheating is like pissing in the
fuel tank to save money. Getting a more clued up classmate to help is rational, but in this game your only real capital is what you understand, not what you can google. Everyone else can google, you can't beat them that way.