Ask HN: Auditing a Class as a Non-Student?

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).

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...

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.

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.

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.

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

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.