I remember taking courses alongside Master's students who were anecdotally less impressive than my fellow undergraduates. This experience (along with my dwindling pocketbook) helped dissuade me from staying the extra year or so, rather than immediately starting work.
Very different in the humanities.
Rather than spending an extra year getting a state school masters, you can also gain a year of ML work experience for a net positive six figures first year out of school. Which is more valuable?
Oh, but for comparison my degree was officially 9 semesters (most people used 10-12), so getting "just the BSc" was a) much shorter and b) not as ingrained as the default and then going the extra mile, the combo package was more like the full replacement for the old Diploma.
I was a TA and RA, didn't have to pay a dime for grad school, in fact got paid a livable salary, that was UC. No scholarships or anything special at all, just regular TA and RA work. Not sure how "typical" that is, but that money filter certainly did not exist when i was there.