The paragraph deals with the results of an analysis of media communications that have been used by a number of regional universities in the context of collaboration with foreign students. This research is based on conclusions of an empirical study that was carried out in 2019-2020 and that was aimed at students from Central Asian countries as the largest group among foreign students in the universities of Yekaterinburg. Overall, it is shown how regional universities use media communications to communicate with foreign students were in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors make the conclusion that the role of media communications in the period of the pandemic has grown significantly, and universities need to continue to work systematically both on their content side and on the technolog-ical side in order to effectively work with foreign students. Besides, the paper provides some recommendations for universities about scoping with main challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.