Foreign: Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from different countries than where they are studying. Foreign students do not necessarily have to have obtained degrees outside the United States; the fact that they require visas to study in the United States qualifies them as foreign.

International: Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who study in more than one country. This term is used throughout the report to indicate graduate students or postdoctoral scholars who have obtained at least high-school degrees or their equivalent outside the United States and have come to the United States to obtain graduate education or postdoctoral training. International students and scholars require temporary visas to enter the United States. The term is not restricted to students in the United States, however, and can apply to any students or scholars studying outside their home countries. With the trend toward studying in two countries and then settling in a third, the term seems to fit the current situation better than foreign.