St. Petersburg Polytechnical University - recognized Russian and world leader in higher engineering education. In 2010 he received the status of a national research university. In 2013, the Polytechnical University among the 15 universities of Russia, who won the competitive selection for the right to obtain a grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia in order to increase their competitiveness among the world's leading research and education centers. Thanks to the activities of the Program "5-100-2020" St. Petersburg Polytechnical University in 2020 should enter the top 100 QS World University Rankings. The article discusses one of the ranking criteria QS - the proportion of foreign students - on the basis of activities of the Programme "5-100-2020" and activities Civil Engineering Institute of Polytechnic University on attracting foreign students. Considered activities such as increasing the number of international educational programs in English, participation Civil Engineering Institute in international educational exhibitions, partnerships with universities and abroad, primarily belonging to the rating of universities QS 500.