The main characteristics of intercultural communication in higher education

Basing on the experience of researchers from different countries in the field of studying intercultural communication and the mechanisms of interaction between culture, education and communication, the author tries to give an interpretation of intercultural communication in the higher education system. The paper indicates that intercultural communication in the higher education system is elitist, because its subject is representatives of intelligentsia of different cultures; denotes the strategic importance of this communication, as it provides the environment and conditions for achieving a competent education, dictated by the modern world market. The prospect of the communication lies in the fact that it serves as mental and humanitarian support for the development of the world economy and universal solidarity; its heuristic is that it contributes to the formation of conditions for acquiring new knowledge, discovering any previously unknown properties, patterns, etc.