"The Quality Imperative" was approved by the Board of Directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in December 2009. This statement focuses on the core issue of educational quality. Both employers and educators know that the higher education quality shortfall is just as urgent as the attainment shortfall. Today's employers want higher education to place significantly more emphasis on a set of outcomes that range from writing to complex problem solving to ethical decision making, science and global learning, intercultural competence, and the ability to apply learning to real-world challenges. Public policy cannot simply assume that program completion and high-level student achievement on key learning outcomes are one and the same. Access and completion are necessary but far from sufficient. To regain its position as a world leader, the United States now must work both to increase degree attainment and to improve significantly the breadth, level, and quality of students' actual learning. Quality must become the centerpiece of this nation's intended investments in postsecondary attainment. (Contains 2 figures and 6 notes.)