As higher education is increasingly international, with the growth of institutional partnerships and increased student mobility across borders, "What counts as quality?" needs to be answered internationally as well. Although regional quality assurance efforts (Europe, the Middle East, Africa) currently augment longstanding country-based efforts, there is no single set of international standards by which all quality is to be judged. Is there a need for such standards? Are they becoming an imperative? Or, should quality assurance remain country-based and regional, continuing to primarily emphasize valued cultural diversity and national sovereignty? This "Policy Brief" begins to explore what it would mean to establish a single set of international quality standards for higher education. What are the benefits? What are the disadvantages and challenges? "International quality standards" in higher education refer to agreement or consensus about what constitutes academic quality, including expectations of faculty, curriculum and standards to judge student performance.