Universalism is not as bad as it is depicted by some proponents of a narrowed and strictly specialized education. It is understood that nowadays specialists in very narrow fields have big advantages in comparison to those with more vague and broad qualifications, but because technology develops very quickly, "narrow" specialists are not able to keep up. At present, people change their careers a few times during their lives. Educational standards of the 21st century must meet the requirement of easy conversion, or reversibility, of one's education.
Like the trivium and quadrivium in the Middle Ages, educational standards of the 21st century must include a stable, non-removable component: a university graduate must have deep knowledge of one's own major; of philosophy, starting with Socrates and finishing with the philosophy of post-modernism; and a good knowledge of at least one foreign language, according to the Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society. Philosophy is compulsory because any mature personality should have a sense of life or a goal. A foreign language gives an access to the alternative information sources, which may reveal different ideological and cognitive approaches to a problem.
The most important feature of the 21st century education must be a high standard in teaching mathematics, not only for mathematicians and engineers, but for the students of humanities, as well. Such disciplines as linguistics, sociology, psychology, history and others apply mathematical and statistical methods, which can be a serious obstacle for their students. New technology makes a bad impact on modern minds: people do not manage to calculate without a calculator, and this laziness leads to the brain's stagnation and degradation.
The last, but not least prospective feature of 21st-century education must be a good knowledge of the world's history, literature and arts. Priority must be given to the national achievements in these domains, but the achievements of other nations should not be neglected.