In response to some educators' advocacy of a return to a "core curriculum" (a specific set of courses required by all degree-bound college students), this book maintains that the simple acquisition of broad-based knowledge is not the solution to the complex and difficult problems in higher education today. It presents views of the "educated person" and practical alternatives suggested by college presidents, deans, university program directors, faculty members, foundation officers, and other leaders in the educational community. The contributors propose curricular perspectives with which higher educational institutions can utilize or even transcend traditional departmental structures to serve the broader intellectual and social requirements of college students now. The book focuses on the diverse college population of the 1980s--older students, part-time students, and the 18-22-year-olds with new career goals--and their needs for alternative, individualized, reformed, or experimental curricula. The 14 chapters are grouped in the following categories: (1) arguments against core curriculum, (2) alternative curricula, (3) curricula focused on the individual student, (4) the interdisciplinary approach to college curricula, (5) curricula for the disadvantaged, (6) the interconnectedness of the work world and the liberal arts, (7) critical issues of curricular reform, and (8) conclusion--"A Model College Education from an Atraditional Viewpoint." (LB)