But former police and transport minister David Campbell admits heading back to the classroom was a big step out of his comfort zone.

"It was pretty scary at first. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting," Mr Campbell said yesterday, 18 months after enrolling at the University of Wollongong.

He stood tall in his blue cloak and cap, with wife Edna and sons Ross and Grant, proud of what he had achieved - a Masters of Management degree.

"It's a real sense of personal achievement, to get a masters degree in my mid-50s," Mr Campbell said.

"I wanted to prove to myself that I could study and get a degree."

Mr Campbell gave three decades of his life to the Illawarra - first as mayor, then state MP and finally as a NSW minister.

After failing to finish his undergraduate degree because he was elected to council, he returned to tertiary education last year - at the age of 54.

"Some of what I studied was really the theory behind what I've practised and some of the assignments I found really challenging," Mr Campbell said.

"I had to get in my own mind what I wanted to argue and then find the information and sometimes that information changed my mind.

"Right towards the end when assignments were due I didn't want to roll up at the last minute not on top of it."

Mixing with the students wasn't a problem for the easygoing public figure who was more used to having staffers handle his research.

"Initially some of them might have been a bit intimidated ... I didn't take a step back contributing in class discussions when I wanted to," he joked.

Mr Campbell wouldn't be drawn on whether he'd take the plunge and tackle a PhD.

Mrs Campbell joked her family could do with a break from the stress of their star student's study habits.