Should college students receive a solid grounding in the liberal arts, or should the goal be to prepare them for careers? Experts report colleges and universities are increasingly concentrating on career-based education. That may be what parents want, but it is not the path business executives recommend.

• A recent poll commissioned by Hobart and William Smith colleges in Geneva, N.Y., revealed 75 percent of parents and 85 percent of their college-bound high schoolers believe the goal of higher education is to prepare students for a career.

• But only 37 percent of business executives questioned in the same survey felt careers should be the primary focus of education.

A 1996 survey entitled "The Dissolution of General Education, 1914-1993," conducted by the National Association of Scholars, shows how the role of required courses has diminished at the nation's 50 most selective colleges:

• Only 12 percent of the schools in 1993 required at least one course in history to earn a degree -- compared to 38 percent in 1964.

• Just 14 percent required completion of a course in literature in order to graduate -- down from 38 percent in 1964.

• While 90 percent required a course in natural science in 1964, only 34 percent did in 1993.

• The proportion of mandatory courses needed for graduation averaged only 7 percent of all courses at the 50 schools in 1993 -- versus 36 percent in 1914.

Business executives say they value employees who are taught how to think and are prepared to pursue a long-term career -- rather than being groomed for their first job.

Many involved in higher education argue schools are doing students a great disservice in allowing them to devote most of their time to career-oriented subjects. Some go so far as to say that non-vocational schools should largely or wholly eliminate profession-oriented programs for undergraduates.