Because of the advanced development of these institutions in Poland, the Polish example will be used as a case study, anticipating changes in other countries or stimulating comparisons. In Poland there are three categories of private universities. These new universities fill a niche, educating people who do not make it into the state universities. They also augment the low incomes of scholars. A third category might best be described as professors' cooperatives, which exist in Poland as private institutions within the Academy of Science.
Academicians sometimes take fictitious vacations in order to devote time to teaching.
But it must be stressed that none of this is illegal, although it is a temporary measure at best, without any serious prospects for sustainability into the future. Still, at present such schools educate a significant number of students, at times to a very high standard. Often curricular innovations win approval more easily if associated with tuition-paying evening programs. Recently, the minister of education issued a directive to universities that the number of paying students may not exceed 50 percent. Clearly the marketplace has had a strong impact on higher education, stimulating innovation and meeting the needs of students, professors, and institutions, both private and public.