The VFA project participants and working group members examined many existing accountability initiatives to help shape their work. However, the VFA differs from other initiatives because it 1) is specific to community colleges, 2) is applicable to all community colleges, 3) defines measures that can be used to garner resources and inform improvement strategies, and 4) will provide a data tool that enables colleges to benchmark their student progress and completion data against peer institutions. If many community colleges agree to and participate in the VFA, the potential exists to streamline accountability reporting and significantly enhance the analysis and use of data to meet the goals of the colleges.