Class 101 Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $84K – $138K
- Disclosed sales
- $176K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (2)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Class 101 is a college-planning franchise that advises high-school students and parents on college admissions, applications, essays, and financial aid. Franchisees run an advising practice coaching students through the college process, often with a small office.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Class 101 franchise requires a total initial investment of $84K – $138K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $176K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low - issued within the last 12 months
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored6 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $84K – $138K
- 28th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $176K
- 2nd pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 33rd pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 85
- 45th pct Business Serv…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Business Services median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $84K – $138K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $176K/year.
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 70/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +16 franchised outlets in the latest year (19 opened, 3 closed); 8 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 49.1% CAGR over 3 years with 85 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Class 101 Franchise, LLC
- Parent company
- Unleashed Brands, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- UA Holdings, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- Predecessor
- Class 101, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Michael Browning, Jr.
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 2350 Airport Freeway, Suite 505, Bedford, Texas 76022
- Auditor
- Deloitte & Touche LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $204.6M
- vs $194.7M prior year
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 8
7 other brands on this site name UA Holdings, LLC as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
- Premier Martial ArtsC
- SNAPOLOGYA
- Sylvan LearningB
- THE LITTLE GYMB
- Urban Air Adventure ParkA
- Water Wings Swim SchoolC
- XP LeagueB
Portfolio: Unleashed Brands
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2026 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Michael Browning, Jr.
- Headquarters
- Texas
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 33
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 17% below the typical business services franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $10K | $15K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $24K | $73K |
| Total initial investment | $84K | $138K |
Source: Class 101 2026 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $84K – $138K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $15K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- Set by a formula · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% |
| Technology fee | $149 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $12K |
| Inventory (initial) | $500 – $1K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 74% below the business services norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Class 101 until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$124K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Class 101 unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $176K
- Per unit/yr · from the Item 19 franchised-cohort breakdown (no single system-wide average disclosed)
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- quartile
- Sample size
- 52 outlets
- vs category median 37
- Range (low → high)
- $9K→$695KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 59 of the 2026 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $29K→$415K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 3 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · typical
Compared against 296 Business Services brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $176K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.6x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 10.0% (near the Business Services median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 3/10 — moderate disclosure depth. Average and range data are available but detailed cohort breakdowns may be limited.
Operator retention
System expanding at 49.1% CAGR over 3 years across 85 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Business Services medians
How Class 101 Compares
Category median of published Business Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 85
- Opened
- 19
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 3
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.5%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +49.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +49.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 1
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 8
- 0.09 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 8
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 33 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
33
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 2 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 2
- Loan volume
- $25K
- Median loan
- $13K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (2)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 2 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (2)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (2)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 1
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
4 distinct concluded litigation/regulatory matters disclosed across Class 101 and its affiliates: (1) Unleashed Services, LLC v. Pabin (breach of contract/fraud dispute, settled with Unleashed Brands buying back Pabin's ownership interest for $275,000); (2) Snapology Maryland Securities Commissioner consent order for unregistered franchise sales; (3) UATP Management v. Leap of Faith Adventures (breach of contract/trade secrets dispute settled for $5,000,000 paid to LOFA); (4) California DFPI consent order against Premier Martial Arts for selling unregistered franchises ($10,000 penalty).
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Deloitte & Touche LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 70 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHActive litigation involving fraud allegations and state regulatory violations regarding franchise registration and disclosure—indicates potential FTC/state enforcement risk and franchisor credibility issues
- 02HIGHNet Income not disclosed in FDD Item 19—prevents prospective franchisees from validating profitability claims; combined with litigation, suggests franchisor unwilling or unable to substantiate earnings
- 03MINORRoyalty floor of $500/month ($6,000 annually) is aggressive relative to average revenue of $180,293—creates cash flow strain for underperforming locations and limits franchisee flexibility
- 04HIGHUnit growth of 23.2% YoY appears strong but context missing—unclear if growth masks franchisee churn, unit consolidation, or acquisition of competitor locations; litigation suggests potential attrition
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 10.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 8,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 36 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 20 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Texas (within 5-mile radius of Franchisor's principal headquarters, currently Bedford/Tarrant County, Texas) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 4 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
4 distinct concluded litigation/regulatory matters disclosed across Class 101 and its affiliates: (1) Unleashed Services, LLC v. Pabin (breach of contract/fraud dispute, settled with Unleashed Brands buying back Pabin's ownership interest for $275,000); (2) Snapology Maryland Securities Commissioner consent order for unregistered franchise sales; (3) UATP Management v. Leap of Faith Adventures (breach of contract/trade secrets dispute settled for $5,000,000 paid to LOFA); (4) California DFPI consent order against Premier Martial Arts for selling unregistered franchises ($10,000 penalty).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 25 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 15 hrs
- Training location
- Online, Bedford, Texas, or other designated locations
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee_with_franchisor_approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Designated software applications
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Designated software applications
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
83 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Class 101 franchise?
The total investment to open a Class 101 franchise ranges from $84K – $138K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Class 101 franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Class 101 FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $176K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Class 101?
Class 101 is franchised by Class 101 Franchise, LLC. Its parent company is Unleashed Brands, LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is UA Holdings, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Class 101 FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Class 101 FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Class 101's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Class 101 (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Class 101 franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Class 101 has 85 total units in the United States, including 85 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 19 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Class 101 a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Class 101 as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 70 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.