How common is it for a professor to take classes?

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Taking classes as a professor is relatively common, with many faculty members engaging in coursework for personal enrichment or professional development. Professors often have the opportunity to take courses for free or at a reduced cost, typically one course per semester, depending on university policies. While some professors do enroll in formal classes, many prefer informal learning experiences, attending lectures or workshops at conferences instead. Balancing teaching, research, and personal studies can be challenging, leading to limited time for formal classes. However, professors express a desire to learn and often find ways to continue their education during sabbaticals or breaks.
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One of my current professors is taking classes over the summer at his grad school. How common is this?

I plan on getting a PhD in mechanical engineering right now and assuming I was able to get a job as a professor at a university, would I be able to take classes at that university? I would be interested in taking things like advanced physics or mathematics. Do you think it would be free? Is it even feasible while being a professor that does research at a university?
 
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Usually all staff and faculty get 1 course free per semester. I know several professors who have taken classes-for fun, primarily.
 
Surely you can take as many classes as you like (noones going to kick you out of the classroom!)
 
Dauden said:
One of my current professors is taking classes over the summer at his grad school. How common is this?

Pretty common.

I would be interested in taking things like advanced physics or mathematics. Do you think it would be free? Is it even feasible while being a professor that does research at a university?

A lot of it ends up being informal since most professors don't need formal credit. You talk to the other professor and show up in classes. The other thing is that people often have informal classes at various conferences, and professors do a lot of traveling. If you have to get everyone together for a class, you might as well do it where the beaches are nice.
 
At my University, they decided to require all the Engineering profs to become accredited Engineers (that's Engineer with a TM beside them, and under license from the province). As a result, a lot of profs with Physics or CS backgrounds ended up in classes with undergrads (they usually only required the 'soft' electives, like engineering finance, project management, etc. plus the ethics course).

Self-deprecating quote relayed to me by one of my friends, courtesy of a prof they had:
Anonymous Professor said:
Today, I learned about testing methods and proper test-writing in the Education class I'm taking. Unfortunately, since I already wrote your midterm, you guys aren't going to benefit from this discovery.
 
as a professor i never had time to take any classes, but in my year off i did take several classes. we would love to take classes but we are busy.
 

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