I think the distinction here is more that this person was already a working professional. And seems to have had the appropriate knowledge to pass most of the classes already.

I got my Masters in a field I had already been working in for years, and the majority of the classes I took taught me nothing new since I already knew the subjects. A few taught me some things about subjects I was not familiar with and took some extra effort but overall the classes weren't that useful. But it was still important for me to get that credential on my resume.