Beginning this fall, R.P.I. will begin requiring that students take classes in entrepreneurship before graduating. Most have not followed that example. Ms. Mellitz's own incubator, for instance, was set up primarily with money from the federal government, the city, and the state, and is officially run by the University of Missouri at St. Louis. But all 10 companies now housed there are working with the faculty of a private institution in town, Washington University. All of the companies are working in fields related to medicine, Ms. Mellitz says.
Incubators often function independently of their sponsoring universities.
Sometimes, they are an outgrowth of a university research park, which can itself be a public-private venture. And most incubators have committees to screen companies wanting to locate there. Ideally, incubator managers hope to see companies move out on their own within about three years. Some incubators increase the rent every year to nudge tenants toward the street. But policies vary.