Detailed, indepth information is provided on the characteristics of individual foreign students to complement the annual report "Open Doors," which reports data on single characteristics of the foreign student population. Data are provided about subgroups of the foreign student population (e.g., the proportion of graduates versus undergraduates from a specific country, and the home country or world region of foreign students attending schools in California). Data were drawn from a biennial survey of all regionally accredited two- and four-year U.S. institutions of higher education listed in the "HEP 1988 Higher Education Directory." Three chapters are as follows: (1) "Profiles Data" (methodology and data characteristics, organization, and availability of special reports); (2)"Foreign Student Characteristics by World Regions and Places of Origin" (African, Asian, European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, North American, and Oceanian students); and (3) "Foreign Students within U.S. Regions, Academic Levels, and Fields of Study" (geographic destinations, and educational destinations, including academic level and field of study). Six appendices provide: detailed cross-tabulations; step 2/step 3 comparisons (i.e., comprisons of "Open Doors" and "Profiles" data); selected characteristics of foreign students by country or other place, subregion, and world region of origin; fields of study; countries and other places within world regions and subregions; and 1987/88 individual data (step 3) survey materials. (SM)