Beginning with a view of the role of tertiary-level educational institutions in the globalizing world and the condition of the Polish higher education system in 2007, the author presents the factors affecting the regional development as well as those that exert the strongest influence on long-term regional development. While examining current ventures undertaken by the Wyzsza Szkola Biznesu-National-Louis University (WSB-NLU), the author postulates a new model of higher education institution, "the Fourth Generation University", which has a significant impact on its environment and also transforms itself. The postulated model has been supported by a brief description of a large project, launched in 2006, of the Nowy Sacz Network of Innovation and Knowledge Transfer and the Multimedia City. (Contains 1 figure and 8 footnotes.)