Report Finds Shift Away From General-Education Requirements

By Denise K. Magner

Washington, D.C. -- A new study of the college curriculum says that professors have failed for the past 30 years to answer a "critical" question: "What should an educated person know?"

Academic requirements once central to a liberal-arts education have virtually disappeared, according to the study. It was released last week by the National Association of Scholars.

The study looked at the course requirements of a bachelor-of-arts degree at 50 of the country's top liberal-arts