The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, better known as OECD, is con-ducting research and development work to determine the feasibility of assessing of higher education learning outcomes cross-nationally. The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) project is examining the feasibility of assessing learning outcomes in three different strands. The first strand, the “generic strand,” focuses on assessing such 21st century skills as critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving and communication. The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is being adapted and translated for this portion of the project. The other two strands take a subject-matter focus: economics and engineering. These assessments are being developed from scratch. In this talk I sketch the AHELO landscape and the challenges confronting the project. I then focus on the Generic Strand and the approach taken to assessing competence in generic (general) skills with the CLA. I conclude the talk with implications for a model of the measurement of competence.