Obligation or Opportunity: Foreign Student Policy in Six Major Receiving Countries

Despite the many similarities in foreign student policy in the major receiving countries, there are also significant variations from country to country in historical background, current issues, enrollment trends and data, and foreign student policies and practices. These differences take their shape from different historic and economic conditions in the major receiving countries, different geographic locations and demographic factors, and varying cultural and educational patterns.

To allow room for this diversity without sacrificing the ability to make comparisons among nations, this report has used the same organizational structure for each of the chapters: background, recent developments, enrollment data, policies and practices, costs and expenditures, issues and arguments, and conclusion.