UA seniors will graduate next month, but according to a recent study, most of them will leave college without the well-rounded education they expected.

The study, done by the Arizona Association of Scholars, surveyed 167 graduating seniors from all three state universities in 11 subject areas, including history, science, pop culture and civics.

"The results indicated that students could escape college without a great deal of background that the 'classical general college education' had," said Marianne Jennings, professor of legal and ethical studies in the college of business at ASU and president of the Arizona Association of Scholars.

The study showed that 98 percent of students could identify Snoop Doggy Dogg, but only 14 percent could identify James Madison as the father of the U.S. Constitution. Three times as many students surveyed could recognize a quote by Karl Marx rather than one by Abraham Lincoln, and less than half of those surveyed knew when the Civil War ended.

"The results are not really the students' fault," said Michael Block, UA professor of economics and law. "Students are not being required to learn these things."

The survey is the second phase of a study done in 1999 by the Arizona Association of Scholars to demonstrate to the Arizona Board of Regents that students are not getting a proper education through their general studies requirements, Jennings said.

"I hope that now they read (the results) and think harder about the core curriculum requirements," said Robert Franciosi, director of urban growth and economic development studies at the Goldwater Institute.

The association recommended that students be required to complete a core curriculum in history, literature, math, fine arts and social and natural sciences before graduating. Also recommended was that students take courses in American history and pass minimal competency tests in core subject areas to graduate.

The good news, Jennings said, is that a similar survey conducted of seniors at Ivy League Schools showed the same results.

"The general undergraduate requirements have clearly been lessened over the past 50 years," Jennings said. "Less and less is required, and now the level of study is very shallow."

Students at UA, for example, can graduate without ever taking an American history class, an art appreciation class or a literature class. According to Jennings, upper division work used to be required in those areas to graduate.

"The idea of a college education is that you are prepared for anything life might hand you," Jennings said. "With a college education, you should be able to look and evaluate any problem whether it be political, civil, new skills or personal."

At UA, more emphasis could be placed on traditional basic knowledge in Tier One and Tier Two classes, Block said. A few upper-division classes in these areas should also be required, he said.

Students may have had higher scores on certain subject areas if they had learned some of the information in high school, Franciosi said.

The Board of Regents, along with the governor's office and presidents of all three state universities, received a copy of the survey.

"I think the survey is embarrassing enough that people might at least think about it," Jennings said. "You have half a century of decline to reverse, so it is going to be a slow process."