Why would anyone audit classes?

I got something in my email from my college asking if I wanted to audit classes. Looking up what that means, why in the blue fuck would anyone want to spend the same amount of money on a class as they would if they enrolled, but NOT get credit for it? I hate to say it, but I really would like to take one particular thing they have that's only a year long (certification, not a full blown degree). They introduced it right after I graduated and I would have taken it instead of the degree I did get if it was around three years sooner (they're both equally useless, honestly).

It's completely worthless, but something I'd like to do. But I already served my time at that place and have given them way too much money already. Besides, if I was going to, why would I pay all the money for the fucking courses and do all the same work as everyone else and get a grade, but unlike the official students, I wouldn't walk away with the "degree"? I'd just enroll.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the concept of class auditing. Has anyone ever done it before?

Some places allow you to audit at no or reduced cost. That can be a good option for someone who isn't sure they'll have the time commitment to complete the class, and I've also seen it used by low-income seniors who are taking the class for personal reasons rather than professional ones. There are some classes I'd consider auditing if I could attend for free; I just want to pick up some rudimentary knowledge without feeling like I have to delve into the subject deeply.

But pay full price to audit? The only person I can imagine that appealing to is a perfectionist who wants to preview the material so that when she does take it for real, she can get a perfect score.

In my area, auditing college and university classes is free.

I have considered auditing because I :
- love learning in general and some subjects particularly
- do not have the income to pay for courses
- do not require actual marks or credits for any professional reason
- have developed permanent constant learning disabilities and am not sure that I could now make the evaluation in their system
- have many disabilities/ health problems that may severe interfere with attendance / finishing coursework

For someone who knows that they will not pass the class but they want to take it anyways. Maybe?

If it was free to audit in my case, I would probably do it. But I looked at the school's website and they do charge the same amount for the class(es) for auditing as they do if you were to enroll. That's why it struck me as pointless, but I didn't know that sane schools let people audit classes for nothing or a very reduced price.

Oooohh! I know! why audit classes if free or much reduced rate...

College is a really bad place to learn a subject for the first time. Turns out some high schools are much better than others. For example, at Breed Hills you probably learned a lot in class about football and saw a lot of movies and thought ""gee, I'm doing pretty well" because you think all schools are like that and then it is a rude awakening when other student are much better prepared because they at least heard some of the subject matter beforehand. So an audit program could help there before taking the class for credit, especially in health care subjects. But to pay the same as for credit is a rip off.

When I lived in Wichita I audited my French and Spanish classes. I did the homework, but skipped the quizzes and tests and exams. I did this because:

1. Wichita was really really boring and I did not fit in well. I needed something to do with my time away from work.
2. I did not want a grade, just the knowledge. Auditing the class decreased my workload and took the pressure off.

I'm echoing what both cassia and shadowcat said. Even paying full price, if I had been given a chance to audit a few particular courses I probably would have, if it was at all feasible. Instead, I failed them and fucked my GPA all up. One of those times, I was severely depressed and just coming out of a honest-to-doG nervous breakdown. They were way, WAY beyond what I could handle - both course content and homework/exams. I had an feeling they would be, but my university basically bullied me into taking them right then and there. Taking them to learn the content without worrying about exams and homework grades/deadlines probably would have gone very differently. I also could have just stopped attending class after they sent me back down the rabbit hole and not been kicked out of my uni.

The second was a course I just recently failed - as in, last week. I signed up at a (legit) online uni so I could finally finish the degree I started years ago (see above - I was kicked out after my GPA fell too far). I signed up for one of the required general courses at the urging of my advisor, even though I knew I was going to be completely lost. I was right. About 4 days into it, I couldn't make heads or tails of anything. I bombed the quizzes and got shot down by my professor on the required "discussions" (a major chunk of the final grade). Add in some major life stress and I shut down. I don't know if I would have learned much of anything auditing the class, but not having the quiz grades or being penalized for not "discussing" things the right way would have taken a major load off. I'll have to retake it eventually, and I'm hoping that learning via coursera/youtube/other books will help me eek though it next time.

"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live." - Oscar Wilde

I audit art classes. I do not wan to deal with having a grade and shit. Besides i do not need an art degree.