There is mounting evidence from faculty and employers that a broad set of skills and abilities are essential for student success as graduates, citizens, and employees. The traditional approach to general education with an emphasis on exposure to a menu of knowledge no longer suffices. Graduates need to be able to integrate their learning, apply it in real-world settings, and use it to address complex and unscripted problems. Examining the emergent research on student learning and key factors that deepen and enhance learning in essential areas for all students at our institutions leads us to developing new modes of measuring and assessing for learning among our students. One such new approach, the VALUE project, using rubrics and portfolios of student work, is described and discussed as a way to engage students in assessing their own leaning, while giving faculty useful information, and institutions reportable results for accountability.