In the long run, both medieval and modern universities were international institutions. Nowadays, English contributes to internationalization as a universal communication channel. The language competences of Polish high school graduates, limited until recently, will probably increase by leaps and bounds from 1926. On the other hand, the language barrier of the entire academic community in Poland will be broken from 2030. An important trend that has been visible for the last 10–12 years is the increase in the attractiveness of Polish universities for foreign students. This applies to both large universities and local ones. The dominant group of foreign students are currently Ukrainians (approx. 55%). The internationalization of Polish universities has also been an important criterion for their evaluation by central state institutions for several years. In this respect, it is easier for large reputable universities to compete. Even if they are not highly ranked, they are known in the international environment. Local or regional universities have a much larger problem with this. Local universities therefore have to resort to various compromises with their foreign students. In the case of small provincial universities, international or local national rankings play a marginal role. The Erasmus program plays an important role. The opportunity to conduct regular studies in English is much easier at leading (large) universities than at local universities – for staff reasons. The author, an academic teacher participating in many forms of internationalization of a local university, presents in the text the implications (mainly limitations) of this process and indicates the forms of its implementation as well as the characteristics of its participants: teachers or students.