Regions where universities and research institutes are located are attracting a vast majority of international students. Providing appropriate conditions for the social and cultural adaptation for foreign students to a local culture and social environment of the universities is an urgent issue that requires attention with a scientific approach. In this research authors considered a number of factors affecting social and cultural adaptation of the foreign students. The factors are combined according to the framework of potential challenges: person-person, person-environment, person-educational organization. In order to overcome these challenges this research suggests a number of initiatives to allow for a successful adaptation of international students to the regional social and cultural environments.