Sylvan Learning Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1979

Franchising Since: 1980

Headquarters: Bedford, Texas

Estimated Number of Units: 570

Franchise Description: Sylvan Learning, LLC is the franchisor. The franchisor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unleashed Brands. The franchisor offers franchises to operate a short-term or permanent learning center and electronic learning environment with a system designed for specialized assessment and teaching of individualized educational programs for children in the principal areas of reading, mathematics, writing, and test preparation under the Sylvan Learning trademarks and system. The Sylvan Learning franchise will include the right to operate several types of Sylvan programs, including but not limited to SylvanSync, Sylvan Edge, ACE IT!, and any other Sylvan systems the franchisor develops from time-to-time for retail customers, and in limited circumstances with prior written approval, to institutional customers.
Training Overview: The franchisor provides franchisees and their staff certain training through its Sylvan University department and through Sylvan University (SU), a proprietary online learning management system for Sylvan franchisees and staff. The franchisor may offer training via instructor-led in-person sessions, group webinars, and online via SUN and online discussion boards. The Franchisee Certification program begins with a conference call with a Franchise Business Consultant. During that consultation, the recommended sequence of training courses for the franchisee and their stakeholders as well as scheduling details will be discussed. Among other subjects, the Franchisee Certification program covers an overview of a center’s educational services, the customer lifecycle, marketing, sales, operations, management, center technologies, education, SylvanSync, Satellites, and online reputation management. In addition, SU also contains approximately 100 hours of optional, additional single-subject and curriculum trainings. All trainings are self-directed and offered online. The franchisor will hold an annual conference at a location it determines.

Territory Granted: Franchisees must operate their Franchised Business at a site approved by the franchisor within the protected area as identified in the Franchise Agreement. In most instances, the franchisor will identify a protected area when they sign the Franchise Agreement. The “protected area” will be determined by the franchisor and may be based upon any or all of the following: zip codes, geographic boundaries, or a radius surrounding the approved location. There is no minimum protected area. Typically, but not in all cases, available protected areas will have i) an average household income above $65,000, and ii) encompass a population of approximately 8,000 students aged 4 to 18, based on the most recent U.S. Census or other publicly available data that the franchisor designates. The boundaries of the protected area may be altered only by written consent of the parties, except as provided in the Franchise Agreement. During the term of and subject to the franchisee’s compliance with the Franchise Agreement and any other agreement between franchisees and the franchisor or its affiliates, the franchisor will neither operate nor grant others the right to operate another Sylvan Learning business in the protected area, except for those rights reserved to the franchisor and its affiliates.

Obligations and Restrictions: The franchisee is required to be a business entity formally organized in the state of the franchisee’s choosing. The center must at all times meet franchisee management, educational staffing, and certification requirements. The franchisor does not permit absentee ownership by the franchisee, which is when at least one owner does not participate in the oversight, decision-making, and strategic direction of the franchised business or fails to be regularly present and engaged in its operations. The franchised business must be supervised at all times by a person who assumes the responsibilities of general management, and full-time responsibility for daily supervision and operation, of the franchised business (the “designated manager”). Each center must have at least one primary center director on an ongoing basis once franchisees begin to offer services. The center director is not required to have an ownership interest in the center. The designated manager may be a center director, but the designated manager is not required to be a director. Franchisees may offer and sell only the products, goods, and services specifically authorized by the franchisor in writing, including without limitation ancillary services that the franchisor may authorize from time to time. Franchisees may not offer or sell any products, goods, or services not specifically authorized by the franchisor in writing.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is 10 years. If franchisees are in good standing, they may elect to continue operating the franchise for two additional, consecutive five-year successor terms.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor does not offer any direct or indirect financing. The franchisor does not guarantee any note, lease, or other obligation. The franchisor does not have agreements to refer franchisees to third parties for financing. Franchisees may, however, obtain financing for their equipment purchases and purchases of educational materials from third parties.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial License Fee	$36,900	$36,900
Travel and Living Expenses While Attending Initial Training	$1,400	$2,400
Initial Three Months' Rent and Security Deposit	$4,000	$15,500
Real Estate Improvements and Site Preparation	$15,000	$75,000
Development Project Management Fee	$6,000	$6,000
Initial Inventory of Inventory Materials	$2,750	$3,050
Specialized Furnishings	$6,000	$15,000
Other Furniture and Miscellaneous Supplies	$3,400	$4,500
Signage	$2,000	$8,000
Grand Opening Marketing	$10,000	$15,000
Local Marketing Expenditure	$1,500	$1,500
Computers and Other Hardware, Telephone, Internet Access & Software	$7,500	$13,930
Miscellaneous Supplies	$15	$150
Hub Technology Platform	$342	$342
Contact Center Participation	$1,480	$2,930
Accounting Software	$135	$600
Optional: Sylvan Edge and/or ACE IT! Programs	$0	$3,210
Additional Funds – Three Months	$9,500	$35,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$109,922	$236,012

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Royalty Fee	11% of gross sales, subject to a quarterly minimum. ACE IT!: 12% of gross sales assessed on the revenue generated under the ACE IT! program.
National Advertising Fund Contribution	5% of monthly gross sales
Local Marketing Expenditure	Greater of 6% of monthly gross sales and $1,500 per month.
Advertising Cooperative (if established)	Determined by majority vote of cooperative members.
Technology Fee (currently called the Hub Technology Platform fee)	Currently $114 per center per month; up to $750 per month (subject to adjustment upward in an amount equal to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index).
Dashboard Access License Fee	Waived for the first license; $10 per month per license after the first one.
Call Center Fee	Model A ($700 per month flat fee plus $10 per inquiry) or Model B ($350 per month plus $30 per inquiry), depending on call volume.
Initial Training Fee	None for first 2 individuals; then-current fee (currently, $500 per day) for each additional person.
Additional Training	Then-current additional training fee (currently, $500 per day) plus reimbursement of the franchisor’s actual costs.
Additional On-Site Assistance	Then-current additional training fee (currently, $500 per day) plus reimbursement of the franchisor’s actual costs such as travel and accommodations.
Split Territory Fee	25% of the then-current initial franchise fee.
Conference Fee	Currently $1,000 per attendee; up to $1,500 per attendee, which is subject to adjustment upward in an amount equal to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers when measured on January 1 of each year.
Compliance Review Fee	Actual cost of program, including purchases made as part of the mystery shop or audit.
Gift Card and Loyalty Program Fees	Currently $0; amount of administrative fees once instituted.
Renewal Fee	$6,000 plus reimbursement of the franchisor’s legal and professional expenses and our other costs incurred in connection with the renewal.
Holdover Fee	$250 per day that franchisees operate after the expiration of the term of the Franchise Agreement.
Transfer Fee	$6,000 per center plus $2,500 transfer training fee, and reimbursement of our legal and professional expenses and the franchisor’s other costs incurred in connection with the renewal.
Resale Program Fee	Currently, the greater of 5% of the purchase price paid for the franchised business (in any form, including cash, credit, debt or stock) or our then-current initial franchise fee (currently $36,900.).
Interest	Lesser of 18% per year or maximum lawful rate in the franchisee’s state.
Nonsufficient Funds Fee	$100 per occurrence, not to exceed maximum allowed by governing law.
Audit Costs	Actual cost of audit.
Indemnification	Varies depending upon claim and resolution of claim.
Liquidated Damages	The product of (i) the royalty fee multiplied by the franchisee’s gross sales during the entire previous 12 full calendar months and (ii) the lesser of (a) three years or (b) the number of years remaining in the initial term.
Public Offering or Private Placement of the Franchisee’s Securities	Reimbursement of the franchisor’s actual costs and expenses incurred in having its legal and professional counsel review offering materials.
Payment Processing Fee	Varies depending upon the volume of payments made by credit card.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Sylvan Learning. Year of FDD: 2025.
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