Top 10 Children’s Education Franchises To Watch in 2020

When it comes to their children’s education, parents don’t mess around. That’s why, in the U.S.,  the supplemental education and child care market has ballooned into a multibillion-dollar industry in recent years. With such high demand, it’s no wonder this franchise industry sector is on the rise—as more and more parents seek flexibility, reliability and balance in the multitude of options they consider for their children, it’s crucial for franchise brands in the children’s education space to promote their differentiators to stand out. 

1851 explored the offerings and differentiators of the top players in the children’s education space. Here are the top 10 brands that are prioritizing innovation to meet the changing needs of students and their families heading into 2020.

Kumon

Locations: Over 1,500 U.S. centers

Investment range: $73,373 to $154,825

Franchise opportunity website: https://www.kumonfranchise.com/

Founded by Toru Kumon in Japan in 1954, this top children’s education franchise has helped over four million students excel in their math and reading courses over the course of its 60-year history. Kumon’s curriculum focuses on daily practice and self-paced progress to accelerate learning by teaching critical thinking and independence, helping to extend its impact beyond the classroom for children between preschool and high school age.

What you can learn from this brand: 2019 was another banner year for Kumon, as the brand raked in a number of accolades in Entrepreneur’s annual Franchise 500 ranking. Beyond earning the No. 14 overall ranking on the franchise industry’s most prestigious list, Kumon accrued the honor of No. 1 in category, ranked in the top 10 on the 2019 Top Global Franchise list and was named among the ranking’s top low-cost franchises and fastest-growing franchises.

Sylvan Learning*

Locations: 750-plus

Investment range: $68,680 to $159,085

Franchise opportunity website: www.sylvanfranchise.com

As the brand with arguably the most name recognition on this list, Sylvan Learning has become the industry standard for supplemental education services, with more than 750 points of presence worldwide and 40 years of service to its name. Through its all-encompassing business model and differentiators such as the adaptive learning platform SylvanSync and leading STEM curriculum, Sylvan has made a name for itself as the go-to brand in supplemental education. Sylvan’s corporate team and franchisees consistently work together to identify local needs and set up the systems and processes that ensure those tools and resources are made available to the students they serve.

What you can learn from this brand: Sylvan’s royalty structure is among the most competitive in the industry because, unlike its competitors who charge a royalty rate as well as fees for marketing and more, Sylvan boasts an all-in flat royalty rate of 16%, designed to save franchisees money and bring in higher revenue. The brand’s encompassing rate includes marketing funds, student assessments, online and in-person training resources, and full-time corporate support.

Meenakshi Tayal, a Sylvan Learning franchisee in New Jersey, added, “Sylvan is centered around the use of technology, which is both engaging and beneficial for students. In addition, the brand offers personal learning plans for every student, taking their academic level into consideration and offering in-depth planning and preparation, which may not be offered in other educational systems.” 

Tutor Doctor

Locations: 500-plus territories

Investment range: $49,700-plus

Franchise opportunity website: https://www.tutordoctoropportunity.com/

Tutor Doctor’s business model is centered on providing students of all levels, kindergarten through college, the individualized resources they need, whenever and wherever they need them. Founded in 2000 as an alternative to the group setting most learning centers utilize in their practices, Tutor Doctor’s mobile-based model prioritizes convenience and flexibility, matching students to tutors capable of meeting their individualized needs, whether in-person or virtually. 

What you can learn from this brand: With a low-investment, home-based model, Tutor Doctor has carved out a competitive place for itself in the supplemental education industry, as many other concepts in the space occupy brick-and-mortar spaces. With no requirements for buildout, leases, equipment nor inventory, Tutor Doctor franchisees can open up shop in less than 30 days—a huge advantage to entrepreneurs looking for immediate cash flow out of the gate.

Lightbridge Academy*

Locations: 36

Investment range: $549,228 to $737,635

Franchise opportunity website: lightbridgeacademyfranchise.com

As “the solution for working parents,” early education and child care franchise Lightbridge Academy is fast expanding beyond its New Jersey roots since turning to franchising in 2011. The brand’s service offering originally catered to children between the ages of six weeks through kindergarten but over time has grown to encapsulate programs for children up to 10 years old. The brand’s progressive learning environment just received accreditation from the Association for Early Learning Leader’s National Accreditation Commission—a milestone achievement that paves the way for all of its locations to follow suit and gives credence to Lightbridge Academy’s premier enrichment programs.

What you can learn from this brand: Lightbridge Acedemy’s Circle of Care philosophy is all about connection. One of the ways its curriculum mirrors this commitment is through its longstanding sign language program that has recently begun to expand. The Signing Sprouts program taught to children as young as six weeks old now offers a library of new video modules for parents to extend the learning and use of sign language beyond Lightbridge Academy centers and into the home.

Mathnasium*

Locations: Over 1,000 locations

Investment range: $112,750 to $149,110

Franchise opportunity website: https://www.mathnasium.com/franchise/

Occupying the No. 6 spot on Entrepreneur's "Top 100 for Less Than $150,000 in 2019" list and the No. 2 spot of Forbes’ Best Franchises To Buy in 2019 list, Mathnasium is on fire. The niche-focused children’s education franchise that serves students grades 2 through 12 has made a name for itself based on its proprietary learning system, the “Mathnasium Method.” The system focuses on learning for the purpose of understanding relationships between concepts as opposed to yesteryear’s “drill and kill” approach of rote memorization that most students experience early on in their math studies. 

What you can learn from this brand: In the franchise industry, a narrow focus equals a broad appeal. By billing itself as a math-only supplemental education franchise, Mathnasium establishes its providers as the premier mathematics tutors and teachers in the space and places its concept at the top of the list for parents looking to strengthen their child’s skills in the subject. Mathnasium also celebrated reaching the 1,000-unit threshold in 2019, a milestone achievement that reveals there’s value in being a master tradesperson, after all.

"Mathnasium will continue to lead the math education market by providing reliable quality of education and meeting our customers' evolving needs," said Shant Assarian, COO of Mathnasium. “We continuously seek ways to maximize the value our customers receive and make our service as conveniently accessible as we can. Our focus is on keeping our education offering the best it can be."

Mad Science

Locations: 150-plus locations in 20 countries

Investment range: $70,000 to $110,000

Franchise opportunity website: madscience.org/opportunities.aspx

Science enrichment franchise Mad Science facilitates learning in children across the world with a wide range of hands-on, instructor-led science programs that are as entertaining as they are educational. The brand presents students with a series of questions, the answers to which are found through experimenting—thus, showing children the ways in which science works around them as opposed to simply learning the subject via textbook. 

What you can learn from this brand: Mad Science adds distinct credibility to its franchise offering—and to its consumer offering, for that matter—through a decade-long partnership with NASA. Through NASA’s support, the brand has developed a series of space-related programs that touch on life as an astronaut, technology, space travel and more. This year, Mad Science celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission systemwide in conjunction with NASA through a series of interactive and educational space-themed workshops. 

The Goddard School

Locations: 500-plus

Investment range: $712,800 to $786,100

Franchise opportunity website: https://www.goddardschoolfranchise.com/

Early childhood education provider The Goddard School merges daycare and education to provide children six weeks to 6 years old with more than just academic skills. A catalog of robust, specialized learning programs targets the development of social, emotional and creative abilities through activities like chess, coding, music, yoga and more. The Goddard School prioritizes keeping parents in the loop on their child’s development with daily activity reports and regular conferences, connecting them to the brand’s nationally accredited experts on a personal level to inspire collaboration and personalization in the service offering.

What you can learn from this brand: With new CEO Dennis Maple at the helm, Goddard Systems, Inc., the franchisor of The Goddard School, is prioritizing sourcing real estate in areas where millennial parents are opting to live with housing, employment and entertainment all in one place. The Goddard School also prioritizes transparency with a highly visible Item 19 that provides a full breakdown of earnings and expenses by school to allow its franchisees to get the most robust data sampling for income potential. 

IDEA Lab Kids

Locations: 87-plus assigned territories

Investment range: $111,500 to $200,000

Franchise opportunity website: franchise.idealabkids.com

An acronym for Innovate, Discover, Explore, Achieve, IDEA Lab Kids is an enrichment facility that offers diversified revenue streams through onsite after-school classes, pop-up workshops, birthday parties and summer camps. Instead of treating subjects as if they exist in silos, IDEA Lab Kids integrates science, technology, engineering, art and math in the form of more than 50 unique courses designed to inspire and engage children aged 4 to 14.

What you can learn from this brand: By building on STEM education and adding the ‘A’ of ‘art’ to its curriculum, IDEA Lab Kids gives its students the means to connect to the more technical aspects of projects, creating a learning experience that’s intellectually stimulating while simultaneously being grounded in tangible, hands-on applications that teach valuable real-world skills. 

KLA Schools

Locations: 22

Investment range: $475,000 to $2,069,750

Franchise opportunity website: https://www.klaschoolsfranchise.com/

What is the Reggio Emilia Approach, you ask? Well, it’s the foundation for the educational system at KLA Schools, a fast-growing supplemental education franchise serving children six weeks to 12 years old. By baking an equal parts nature-nurture philosophy into the fiber of its teaching, KLA Schools has grown its reputation through its child-centered approach that taps into its students’ native creativity to inspire a lifelong desire to learn.

What you can learn from this brand: KLA Schools puts a premium on environment, meaning the spaces the brand occupies are specially structured to allow for the brand’s philosophy to thrive. Developed by architects well-versed in the field of early childhood education, KLA Schools’ layouts feature large classroom sizes filled with natural, recycled and man-made materials for students to experience, as well as an art studio, nature-based playgrounds with gardening spaces, and more.

The Learning Experience

Locations: 220-plus

Investment range: $494,419 to $3,586,419

Franchise opportunity website: https://www.thelearningexperience.com/franchising

The Learning Experience is an early education and childcare franchise that offers before- and after-school enrichment programs and summer programs to children six months to 5 years old. The brand has developed key cognitive, physical and social teaching methods through its L.E.A.P. curriculum that advance its students’ academic preparation in six stages from infancy to kindergarten. 

What you can learn from this brand: When it comes to the learning experience as it relates to The Learning Experience, the main takeaway comes via demonstrated results. Through its approach to learning, the brand helps nine in 10 children enter kindergarten already reading. The brand is also growing fast after a 2018 private equity investment from Golden Gate Capital, with over 100 locations currently in development nationwide.