With the emergence and dominance of public institutions of higher learning, and their development of curricula that meet the demands of students whose family background does not include a higher education tradition, the traditional liberal arts and humanities have declined in popularity. Educational relevance has shifted, at the undergraduate level, from "becoming a gentleman" to obtaining the skills necessary for employment. Only when the needs of career employment have been satisfied and the creativity potential of one's job have been exhausted, will people become seriously interested in exploring subjects in the liberal arts. Since many of them will already have degrees, this exploration will need to occur on the graduate level. These new students would generally be older, economically self-sufficient, nonspecialist, and studying under their own initiative. The most appropriate courses, since the student would probably not have the specific prerequisites for math, science, and language study, would be in the humanities and social sciences. Institutions considering such students would need to reexamine their assumptions and policies for part-time study, as well as their fee structures. It can be argued that students, faculty, and universities would benefit from a liberalization of graduate education, and so also would society as a whole. The kinds of jobs many have are not psychically fulfilling and the trend is increasingly in the same direction. Some other source of fulfillment is necessary--liberal education at the graduate level may be one. (MB)