Immigration Status Definition
Nonresident alien
A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is in this country on a visa or temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely.
Resident alien
A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States but who has been admitted
as a legal immigrant for the purpose of obtaining permanent resident alien status
(and who holds either an alien registration card (Form I-551 or I-151), a Temporary
Resident Card (Form I-688), or an Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94) with a notation
that conveys legal immigrant status such as Section 207 Refugee, Section 208 Asylee,
Conditional Entrant Parolee or Cuban-Haitian).
This information is taken from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/reic/definitions.asp.