Bottom line
- Total investment $201K – $388K including a $40K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $837K/year (median $820K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 98 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Learning Express unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
21%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Learning Express units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$167K
on $837K purchase
Total debt
$670K
SBA $0.4M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Learning Express franchisees operate after-school tutoring and academic enrichment centers, delivering personalized instruction in reading, math, and other subjects to K-12 students. Day-to-day operations include student intake, curriculum delivery, progress monitoring, parent communication, instructor scheduling, and local marketing. Centers typically serve their surrounding community and rely on enrollment retention and word-of-mouth referrals.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 22 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Learning Express shows concerning unit decline, undisclosed profitability, and high fixed royalty costs that warrant careful validation before committing to a six-figure investment in a shrinking franchise system.
Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 2.3% YoY (86 total units) suggests shrinking franchise system and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to validate actual profitability; average revenue of $836,884 means nothing without expense data
- 03MINORHigh royalty floor of $1,500/month ($18,000 annually) creates fixed cost burden even during slow sales periods, reducing flexibility
- 04MINORInitial investment range ($201,491–$387,514) is substantial for a learning center with declining unit count and unproven net margins
- 05MINOR10-year term is long given system contraction; difficult to exit if performance underperforms
- 06MEDFranchise fee of $40,000 is moderately high relative to declining system size and lack of disclosed profitability metrics
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
93 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Learning Express · FDD (2025) PDF