Foreign student policy in six major receiving countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and Canada) is presented. For each country considered, information is given on the following: (1) background; (2) recent developments; (3) enrollments and enrollment trends (enrollment by country of origin, distribution by level and sector, distribution by discipline, socioeconomic background and personal characteristics, geographic distribution of students, private colleges and universities, and student experiences); (4) policies and practices (recruitment, admissions, student welfare services, student response, curriculum, and returning students); (5) costs and expenditures (scholarship costs, direct costs, subsidized costs, and capital costs); (6) issues and arguments; and (7) conclusions. Results are discussed according to: choices; changes (destinations, origins, profiles, experiences, support services, graduate enrollments, enrollments by discipline, competition for talent, commercialization, and patterns of relationship); and challenges (technical education and cultural questions). Four appendices provide: conference proceedings ("Foreign Student Policies of the Major Host Countries," held at Princeton, New Jersey in June 1989); comparative foreign student expenditures; summary of foreign student enrollments; and a list of conference participants. Contains approximately 75 references. (SM)