The College Outcome Measures Program (COMP) and its role in an era when standardized testing is being questioned and authentic assessment is championed are discussed. Authentic assessment should not mean discarding measurement expertise and existing technology. It is an approach to measuring the quality and level of performance that uses real settings when possible and requires the application of the kinds of skills individuals are likely to use outside the classroom. Authentic assessment plans for the measures themselves to be learning experiences that can provide feedback on processes, and it demands that measures address central and significant issues. The COMP was organized in 1976 and has developed into its present six instruments for assessing general education skills and knowledge. Four of these instruments are largely or entirely open-ended performance measures. The COMP Assessment of Reasoning and Communicating is described as an example of a performance measure consisting of six simulation activities. Elements that must be addressed in order to have confidence in conclusions drawn from outcomes data are identified, and articles based on the COMP that focus on going beyond test scores are reviewed. An eight-item list of references is included. (SLD)