How Sylvan Learning Is Still Earning Franchising Honors After More Than 40 Years

Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of personalized education for K–12 students, has once again landed on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2022 Franchise 500 list. Since 1979, Sylvan’s mission has been to transform how students learn while inspiring them to succeed in school and in life. Today, with over 710 points of presence worldwide and more than 10,000 teachers, the brand continues to fulfill that mission.

Sylvan finished 2021 with an impressive surge of growth, with 55 new franchise partners, 29 new openings and six existing-owner expansions for the year. Now, having reached 47 total centers awarded and coming off a record-breaking year of franchise sales, Sylvan is eyeing continued growth in 2022.

Here are just some of the reasons why, after more than 40 years, Sylvan continues to thrive as one of the industry’s hottest education franchises.

Reputation and Longevity

Over the last 40-plus years, Sylvan has established itself as one of the most recognizable brands in education by helping millions of students achieve academic success. 

According to CEO John McAuliffe, Sylvan has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) above 75. The NPS is a market research metric that measures the likelihood someone would recommend a company, product or service to a friend or colleague. According to Inc. Magazine, based on the global NPS standards, a score of 70 or higher is considered "world-class," putting Sylvan in elite company.

“The name Sylvan stands for academic support,” said Leah LaClaire, a Sylvan franchisee and center director in Essex, Vermont who is a former corporate employee. “As a mother, I want a partner in my child’s education — a friendly face they can go to and feel comfortable knowing that they're going to get the support they need. As a center owner, I try to be that partner. To me, that’s what Sylvan represents.”

According to independent research, Sylvan students achieve up to three times more growth in their math and reading scores than their peers. The brand’s proven methods and individualized approach are the foundation of its longstanding reputation.

“At the end of the day, parents really want a trusted brand,” said Susan Valverde, Sylvan’s chief franchise operations officer. “They want a trusted partner that can help them ensure their child's success. And for 43 years, Sylvan has been just that.”

The Best Teachers Provide a Personalized Approach

With a breadth of curriculum and delivery options to accommodate students’ learning needs, Sylvan presents both students and parents with options, operating with the understanding that no two kids are the same, and no two kids’ needs are the same.

“I really love the curriculum design,” said Emily Levitt, Sylvan’s vice president of education. “The content is dynamic. It's not just a question on a piece of paper. You can push students as they learn a certain concept or topic and really get at the core of what they know and what else they need to learn. You can discover the gaps and track progress, which allows you to help each child quickly and effectively. It’s very efficient.”

Sylvan believes that education should not be one-size-fits-all. World-class teachers focus on making personal connections with students to help meet their individual needs, and the brand uses proprietary assessments that help build a 360-degree picture of a student’s abilities. This allows Sylvan to then create a personalized plan to fit that student’s unique needs.

“It's not a cookie-cutter program,” said LaClaire. “It's very personalized. It's individualized. And I think for a lot of parents, knowing that we've created a personalized plan for their child, it makes it easier for them to trust us and see us as a true partner in their child’s education.”

Sylvan Promotes a Culture of Education

You don’t crack the Franchise 500 list without taking care of your franchisees. 

One of the many ways Sylvan supports its center owners is by providing ongoing training and education. The brand regularly polls center directors and franchisees to guide its trainings and make sure it’s providing guidance that will actually help them run their centers more efficiently and better educate students. It also hosts weekly trainings to highlight successful franchisees in different markets, allowing other center owners to see what strategies are actually working and leading to success.

Executives at Sylvan’s corporate offices are also constantly learning, taking feedback from center directors and franchisees and using it to inform how the brand moves forward from a technological and innovation standpoint.

“The education doesn’t stop with the children,” said LaClaire. “I have certainly seen it in all areas. That's super important to me as an educator. Knowing that I should also constantly be learning, it's important for me to have training accessible for anything that I may need.”

Sylvan Has Changed with the Times

COVID forced educators and educational providers globally to pivot to virtual learning. But Sylvan has been leveraging a strong foundation of virtual programs since long before the pandemic. These programs include SylvanSync™, which houses Sylvan’s entire curriculum digitally, as well as a cloud-based CRM system that manages customer communication and a cloud-based administration system that enables franchisees to manage their businesses remotely. All of these digital programs helped Sylvan adapt to the unprecedented changes in the education landscape.

Over the last 40-plus years, as the education and technology landscapes have evolved, Sylvan has done the same — the brand has not only kept up with the times, but has been an innovator in the education space. This is how it has been able to remain one of the hottest franchises in an increasingly competitive education sector. 

“The ability to constantly evolve while staying true to our mission is imperative to our growth as a company,” said LaClaire. It's also imperative to my growth in my franchise. I need to be able to show my students and their families that I can adapt to their needs and to the changing landscape. So knowing that from the top-down, Sylvan is continually changing and adapting — that's important to me. That’s something I can take to the families I serve to show them that we know what’s going on, we’ve got their back and we’re here for them and their children.”

Start-up costs range from $85,525-$186,930. Learn more at www.sylvanfranchise.com.