Assessment strategies that colleges and universities design to evaluate the effectiveness of their academic programs should be compatible with other institutional improvement strategies. This paper stems from work done by the Outcomes Assessment Project in International Education, a project that attempts to assist institutions in measuring the effectiveness of their commitment and resources in meeting objectives in international education. The question of how educational assessment fits with other institutional strategies is addressed; assessment programs in international education are used as the focal point. Assessment strategy should be integrated into planning, priorities, and program reviews. Such integration should accomplish three important objectives. It should: (1) link assessment to the budget process; (2) integrate the cost of assessment into program evaluation; and (3) enable faculty and administrators to capitalize on institutional strengths and select areas for improvement where cost effectiveness can be demonstrated. In regard to international study, two components of an assessment strategy can serve to demonstrate the importance of institutional integration. The first component is assessment of knowledge of international affairs; the second is self-reporting by students of their non-classroom activities. Advantages of integrating assessment of international education competence into institutional improvement strategies are the following: faculty recognize assessment to be an integral part of program development and improvement; resources can be redirected to programs that will have maximum impact; and new options to achieve greater international competence can be identified. (DB)