It depends on the tradition I guess. Mahamudra and Dzogchen have been in Vajrayana traditions since they were developed around Bengal over a thousand years ago, and are a major part of that yana's training. It's also not just for monks, as there's the Ngagpa in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Whether or not you learn it at home is complicated, as it'd depend on so many things -- lineage/yana, caste/social class, country/region, etc.