
Ask HN: Auditing a Class as a Non-Student? - lswainemoore
I&#x27;m a college graduate who&#x27;d love to take a couple college classes (math, maybe econ and computer science) in my spare time.<p>I don&#x27;t care about getting credit in any form, though ideally I&#x27;d like to sit for the exams (accountability is good for me).<p>Has anyone done this? If so, how did you go about it? Did you reach out to professors directly? Universities don&#x27;t seems advertise this, for understandable reasons; presumably it&#x27;s not profitable in the same way credit-earning courses would be--though actually I&#x27;d be happy to pay some (smaller) amount.<p>Thanks!
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HuShifang
Generally speaking, auditing is allowed solely at the professor's discretion
(though as you surmise, I don't think institutions are fans of the concept).
So, I'd definitely approach the professor directly. BUT I do think you might
have a hard time winning them over -- usually it's only people who are
registered students or faculty/staff at the institution that are allowed to
audit there (and plenty of faculty will say no, esp. if the class isn't a
large lecture). Sometimes alumni are allowed to audit, but there may be
security concerns, etc. about letting total outsiders into the classroom. (And
as test grading takes time, that may also be a no-go.)

My advice would be to 1) consider MOOCs or MIT OCW, and 2) attend lectures and
events open to the public at the institution. The latter may be interesting in
themselves, and would be a way for you to get to know the scholarly community
a bit better (so you're not just a random person asking for consideration).

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brudgers
If you're in California, the California State University System has Open
University at all campuses. [1] If not, basically an open university is most
likely to give you what you want. In the US, community colleges are also an
option for foundational classes.

[1]: [https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/professional-and-
continuing...](https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/professional-and-continuing-
education/Pages/open-university.aspx)

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throwawayaway12
My experience has been as an enrolled PhD student in the US, so my thoughts
may not completely apply.

I would just go talk to the professor teaching the class if you do not care
about any documents saying you took the class. I have sat in on many different
classes this way.

Things to note: -You may have some trouble on both extremes of class
enrollment. Some courses require a minimum number of students to be enrolled
for the class for it to be offered, so if there are not enough or bare minimum
number of people taking the class you might experience some resistance. On the
opposite end, for classes with long waitlists, you may not be able to sit in.
-If you are not affiliated with the university, you may have trouble accessing
course files that are locked behind a university authentication.

My advice if you want to go this route is to minimize your impact on the
professor. Wanting special accommodations, such as special delivery of class
materials or participating in homeworks/projects/exams may give some
professors pause.

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matt_the_bass
To take the class officially, it is called “a non-matriculating student”. The
cost per credit is usually less than the matriculating cost.

In the US, many states offer workforce development grants that will pay for
all/some of the costs to take the class officially as a non-matriculating
student.

Many employers in the US also subsidize such courses. Talk to your boss/hr.

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chungleong
I took many courses through UC Berkeley's concurrent enrollment program. It
allows non-students to attend courses on a space-available basis. The
professor has to sign off on it and it costs a thousand bucks or so.

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Etheryte
You will probably have to slightly reword your question, but Academia[1] would
probably be a better audience for this question than HN.

[1] [http://academia.stackexchange.com](http://academia.stackexchange.com)

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AznHisoka
If it's a large class, I wouldn't recommend saying anything. You can take the
exams and do the assignments, but don't hand them in.

