The article presents the problems of higher education development in Russia, including the priority tasks of the higher school in the context of internationalization and increasing the competitiveness of Russian universities in the world market of education services. The Ural Federal University (UrFU) is considered as a contest participant, listed among 15 Russian universities, winners of the competitive selection for a special grant aimed at increasing the university s global competitiveness and its positions in international rankings. The issues of international students’ adaptation to the educational process both at a higher educational institution as a whole and at the UrFU, in particular, are discussed. The data of the students’ blitz-survey on identification of general adaptation for physiological and social factors is described.