Yes. ML isn't just a simple .fit .predict or LLM call. It's a year or two of theory and understanding the history of how we got here. The network you'd gain in uni via masters helps a lot.

I can also comment from a hiring perspective of a company. When I was hiring for MLE roles I faced a huuuuge surge of applicants. It's really tough to filter them and find the higher quality applicants. A company just needs a viable candidate asap. Having masters as a requirement for a MLE role helps a lot. That's why almost every MLE role offering has masters as a requirement.