The Learning Experience Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
The Learning Experience is an early-education and childcare franchise for children six weeks to five years, built on its proprietary L.E.A.P. curriculum. Franchisees own and operate a preschool managing teachers, enrollment, and daily care, plus after-school programs.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A The Learning Experience franchise requires a total initial investment of $806K – $5.7M, including a $60K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.2M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 7.2% charge-off rate across 306 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $806K – $5.7M
- 70th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- $2.2M
- 30th pct Education
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 18th pct Education
- Units
- 465
- 78th pct Education
- SBA charge-off
- 7.2%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Education avg · 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 $806K – $5.7M including a $60K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.2M/year (median $2.2M).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 60/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 7.2% across 306 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 33.7% CAGR over 3 years with 465 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- The Learning Experience Systems LLC
- Parent company
- The Learning Experience Corp. (TLEC)
- Ultimate parent
- HP TLE Holdings, LP (Harvest Partners private equity affiliate)
- Predecessor
- The Learning Experience Franchise Corp.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Director/Chairman/CEO
- Richard S. Weissman
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 210 Hillsboro Technology Drive, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441
- Auditor
- WithumSmith+Brown, PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $51.6M
- vs $61.5M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Richard S. Weissman
- Headquarters
- Florida
- Founded
- 2003
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 26
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 388% above the typical education franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $60K | $60K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $300K | $450K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $446K | $5.1M |
| Total initial investment | $806K | $5.7M |
Source: The Learning Experience 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
- $806K – $5.7M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $300K – $450K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $60K – $60K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $525 |
| Training fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 174% above the education norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$328K
15.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
9%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
11.0 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one The Learning Experience unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
9%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 The Learning Experience units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
31.4%
3.92× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.57×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$7.2M
on $17.5M purchase
Total debt
$10.2M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
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
- $2.2M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.2M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical average gross sales by cohort (mature/intermediate, franchise/corporate, above/below average) plus company-owned EBITDAR (Statement 2)
- Sample size
- 266
- vs category median 17 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $715K→$4.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 204 Education brands
Revenue is only 0.7x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $2.2M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% — below the Education average of 10.6%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 33.7% CAGR over 3 years across 465 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 Education averages
How The Learning Experience Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 465
- Opened
- 31
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 1.4%
- Company-owned
- 29
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 94%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +33.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +33.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 57
- Closed (3yr)
- 6
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 20
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 5
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 29 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 306
- Loan volume
- $189.7M
- Median loan
- $450K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 7.2%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 92.8%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 74
- Defaults
- 11
- Typical loan rate
- 7.6%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 5.3%
- brand above franchise avg ↑
- Jobs supported
- 7,950
- 4.2 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 12%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 84% went to startups / new businesses, 16% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in child day care services, franchised businesses charge off at 5.3% vs 13.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 59% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
The Learning Experience charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing The Learning Experience franchisees
Showing 3 of 74 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into The Learning Experience's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 19-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 7.2% — 55% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Large established childcare franchisor (since 2003) with 366 units, $61.5M revenue, $26.1M net income, and $105.9M net worth. 4 litigation matters are minimal relative to system size. Audited financials and Item 19 disclosed; essentially clean with routine litigation.
Litigation (Item 3)
One pending franchisee lawsuit (Lampe v. TLES, filed Feb 2026, alleging fraud/misrepresentation re: site development delays); two concluded historical matters from the 1990s involving the CEO's prior company Tutor Time (FTC consent order with $220,000 penalty; California Dept. of Corporations desist order for unregistered franchise sales).
Largest disclosed settlement: $220,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · WithumSmith+Brown, PC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGH4 litigation matters, low relative to 366 units
- 02MINORStrong profitability ($26.1M net income) and net worth ($105.9M)
- 03MINORNo bankruptcy, distress, or going-concern
- 04MEDAudited financials and Item 19 disclosed
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% 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 | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 1 mi |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Florida |
| Litigation count | 3 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
One pending franchisee lawsuit (Lampe v. TLES, filed Feb 2026, alleging fraud/misrepresentation re: site development delays); two concluded historical matters from the 1990s involving the CEO's prior company Tutor Time (FTC consent order with $220,000 penalty; California Dept. of Corporations desist order for unregistered franchise sales).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 65 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 156 hrs
- Training location
- Deerfield Beach, FL (corporate headquarters) and virtual/on-site at franchisee's Center
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 36 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisor (SDSC Addendum) or franchisee with franchisor approval (SC Addendum)
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- TLE Technology Package (TTP) - includes CORE center management system and Show N Tell parent engagement app
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: TLE Technology Package (TTP) - includes CORE center management system and Show N Tell parent engagement app
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
486 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
The Learning Experience · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a The Learning Experience franchise?
The total investment to open a The Learning Experience franchise ranges from $806K – $5.7M, with an initial franchise fee of $60K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do The Learning Experience franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the The Learning Experience FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.2M. The median is $2.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the The Learning Experience 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 The Learning Experience FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is The Learning Experience's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, The Learning Experience has a charge-off rate of 7.2% across 306 loans, meaning 7.2% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many The Learning Experience franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, The Learning Experience has 465 total units in the United States, including 436 franchised units and 29 company-owned units. 31 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is The Learning Experience a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates The Learning Experience as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 60 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent The Learning Experience, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Education franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Education category
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.