In an attempt to head off a government-mandated system to measure student learning, the two higher education associations representing the nation's public colleges are calling on members to develop their own voluntary approach that would allow the public to compare similar institutions. The recommendation was in a paper released yesterday by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges . The American Association of State Colleges and Universities plans to issue its own paper next week proposing that states and their colleges come up with a "consensus model for assessing the value added from undergraduate student learning."