In the upper northeast corner of the United States, the commitment to competency education has grown so strong that entire states are embracing it through high-leverage comprehensive policies. Of the six New England states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont -- four have established comprehensive state policies that seek 100 percent of districts to offer competency-based diplomas; one has created a permissive policy so that any district that wants to can become competency-based without expectation that they do so; and only one, Massachusetts, continues to stay the course despite the obstacles created by the traditional time-based system. In the first section of this paper, the core concepts of competency education will be introduced. In the next section, the author looks at the question of why and how the region of New England, with some of the most high-achieving education systems, has embraced competency education. The third section seeks to glean insights from across the states. The final section provides an early analysis about the impact of state strategies toward quality and equity, scaling, and sustainability. In the appendix, readers will find a synopsis of each state strategy, complemented by short case studies of districts and schools.