Government pressures for universities to demonstrate greater efficiency while maintaining the quality of their activities have resulted in a range of performance indicators being adopted. However, questions of quality in teaching, learning, and research are hardly addressed by these indicators. Instead, more tangible measures of input and output predominate. The quality of learning arising from the experience of higher education is rarely considered, although any valid measure of a university's performance must take account of the intellectual development of its students. A combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluations is necessary to the process of monitoring standards and performance in higher education. Contains 16 references. (Author)