In this article, the author discusses the final report from the Education Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education--officially released on September 19 under the title "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education." The report has its fair share of advocates and antagonists. But as with the NCLB legislation, one fact is indisputable: the Spellings Commission report sends a strong message that the Bush administration is serious about assessment and accountability in higher education. The report makes some modest, yet critical, references to the role of information technology (IT) in U.S. colleges and universities. Many readers may find the key critiques and accompanying recommendations strikingly familiar--"A Test of Leadership" is really more a compilation of continuing criticisms than a bold, breakthrough document that charts a new path for U.S. colleges and universities and for public policy in American higher education. However, academic IT officers should still pay attention to the report's clear demand for documentation of the productivity returns from investments in IT. The growing--indeed, pressing--need for hard data about institutional performance and outcomes leads directly to an emerging function for IT in today's colleges and universities: assessment. College and university IT leaders need to bring their IT resources and expertise to the critical planning and policy discussions about institutional assessment and outcomes that affect all sectors of U.S. higher education. (Contains 1 figure and 16 notes.)