June 1, 1987

LEAD: As the first step in a long-term effort to broaden the education of engineering students, undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be required to pursue more systematic study of the arts, humanities and social sciences.

LEAD: The Hospital Corporation of America, the nation's largest hospital chain, said yesterday that it had agreed to sell 104 of its acute-care hospitals to its senior managers and employees for $1.8 billion in cash plus preferred stock and warrants.

LEAD: Mathias Rust, the 19-year-old West German whose aerial escapade set off a purge of the Soviet military, may be allowed to go home without standing trial, a Soviet spokesman said today.

LEAD: A promising technique for dealing with the third-world debt crisis - the exchange of bank loans for ownership in companies in developing nations -still faces many obstacles two years after being hailed as a breakthrough. And another logical outgrowth, a speculative market in the deeply discounted debt of third-world borrowers, is going nowhere.

LEAD: Stand as far east as possible in Manhattan, north of where the crosstown street grid begins, and look west. The next few nights mark an unusual celebration of sunlight, a joint venture of nature, city planners and private development that takes place 19 or so days before and after the summer solstice.