The article is devoted to the problem of attracting foreign students to the Russian universities. Particular attention is paid to the ways of forming a positive image and factors of attractiveness of educational organizations of higher education in the Far East for potential students. The article considers several areas of development of the indicated problem. First of all, internationalization of education and increase in the number of foreign students is the effective fulfillment of modern request for socioeconomic development for the highly professional personnel. Currently, the most urgent tasks are to create necessary conditions to prevent the outflow of foreign students from Russia, thereby preserving their contingent by maintaining the high quality of education with the development and widespread introduction of new learning formats into the educational process: online technologies, hybrid forms of education. The article notes that for Russia, which has a powerful export potential of education system, finding the ways to increase the competitiveness of Russian universities in the world educational space is a current priority. The article pays special attention to the issue of attracting foreign students to the universities in the Far East, especially from the PRC. Close proximity of the Far-Eastern region to China and the need to identify resources that ensure competitive positions for the regional universities in attracting Chinese students justify the prospects for sociological developments in this area. Based on the surveys of foreign students, graduates and potential applicants, the authors of this article identified priority areas in the development of educational potential of the FarEastern universities and increasing their attractiveness for the foreign students, refuted stereotypical ideas that foreign students from the low-income families and having a low level of education enter the Russian Far-Eastern universities. The conclusions to which the authors come are addressed to the university leaders, teachers, as well as officials of the government and business bodies interested in the development of the Far-Eastern territories.
