The coming decade will be a more significant period for the relationship of education to vocation and work than any other period in U.S. history. No longer will life be divided into periods of preschool play, formal learning, forty years of work, and decline; rather, these periods will interlock, especially as continued learning becomes increasingly necessary for work. Thus, the definition of a student must be changed, and likewise the areas of educational content and structure. Schools must recognize that they are dealing with students who have flexible and multiple demands and that their structures must be flexible and permit these alternative demands. An example of a flexible college is located in New York at Empire State College which operates through urban learning centers, instead of a campus, and permits students to develop their own course of study. Educational content must change so that people no longer think of liberal vs. vocational education. Schools must assist students to deal not only with intellectual ideas, but also with the practical application of these ideas. Notions that one field surpasses another in dignity and worthiness need to be dropped from society's thinking. If schools do not make these adjustments in structure and content, new kinds of institutions will emerge to fulfill these needs. (ELG)