Educational objectives, like educational quality, are contextual and evolving--they may exhibit both continuity and change. This paper capitalizes on the role of neo-institutionalism and on the contribution of Douglass North (one major representative of the neo-institutionalism trend) in identifying the institutional impact upon cognitive development, national consciousness and economic performance. Out of this large theoretical corpus, we have focused on the theories of learning. The core idea which we have drawn on refers to the fact that educational improvements are dependent on the characteristics of social institutions and institutions, in their turn, are variables dependent on the level of education. Is this a vicious or virtuous circle? If political factors considered both formal and informal aspects in the implementation of educational reforms in Romania, this would increase the chances for progress. Any strong educational "edifice" needs to start from national values and beliefs. The impending changes should be gradual rather than radical. The importing of patterns from developed countries should take place cautiously. Quality assurance is one of the most important parts in restructuring the national educational system that not have a Romanian label. Yet, the interest related to the theory and practice of quality management in education has echoed in Romania as well. A recommended goal is to identify that organization chart and synchronization of efforts so as to determine people to respond to their tasks enthusiastically and constantly improve their problem solving strategies. A "quality culture" will entirely depend on this mechanism, on the framework of constraints and incentives under which individuals interact. Consequently, our approach stresses the idea that a "quality culture" needs to derive from the Romanian context and this could be possible only by many successive, long-term institutional changes. Once such conditions are met, the passage from quality to sustainability becomes shorter and obstacle free, as a quality culture is likely to develop responsible attitudes to community and the environment.