Tutoring & Early Education Franchises in the USA

Kumon's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) puts a new Center from $101,630, including the $2,000 initial franchise fee; that total already counts what Kumon pays for a new Center, such as furniture and fixtures, whose cost the FDD puts at $10,000, and the reimbursement for the fabrication, delivery, and installation of one exterior sign. Mathnasium's FDD puts a first Center from $127,316, including the $49,000 initial franchise fee. Primrose's FDD puts an Adaptive-Reuse School, converted from an existing building, from $2,152,500, including a $1,219,050 tenant improvement allowance from a landlord, the highest that franchisees leasing such Schools received in 2025, and a New-Build School from $5,016,600. Both totals exclude land acquisition costs, and both low estimates use the $50,000 Initial Fee for the first School of a qualifying veteran or member of the U.S. Armed Forces (VetFran program); a new franchisee pays $80,000. Payments to Primrose before opening also include a Real Estate Fee from $25,000, depending on the program, and a $35,000 Initial Training Fee. For capital, Kumon's franchising site says you need at least $100,000 in liquid capital; Mathnasium's Ideal Candidate page says its ideal candidate "typically meets" a "Minimum of $112,936" in liquidity and a "Minimum of $150,000 net worth" (confirm these amounts with Mathnasium); and the FAQ on Primrose's Path to Ownership & Support page gives a minimum liquidity of $1,500,000. None of the three FDDs states these amounts, and Kumon and Primrose publish no minimum net worth.

Each brand charges differently. Kumon charges a monthly royalty for each enrolled student in each subject: during the subject's initial Temporary License Period (TLP), $42.75 for a full-paying student and $21.38 for a partially exempt or prorated one, and after you complete that TLP, $38 and $19; a $30 Initial Enrollment Royalty Fee is due each time a new student registers, and from the seventh month after opening, Kumon charges a New Center Marketing Fee of $300 a month. Mathnasium charges two royalties at the same time: a Monthly Royalty of 10% of monthly Gross Receipts, which from a Center's 24th month of operation is the greater of 10% or $1,500, and a fixed Base Royalty of $650 a month. It also charges a Monthly Marketing Fee of $250 plus 2% of monthly Gross Receipts, a digital and local marketing fee of at least $1,000 a month, a Technology License Fee of currently $266 a month per Center, and an Annual Convention Fee of currently $550 per attendee, with attendance required. Primrose takes a Royalty Fee of 7% of Gross Revenues and a Brand Fund Fee of currently 2% of Gross Revenues, which it may increase to not more than a total of 3%; each month, you must also spend the greater of 1% of the previous month's Gross Revenues or $1,000 on approved local advertising, and the Academic Curriculum Material License Fee is currently $4,000 per School a year.

The requirements on the Kumon, Mathnasium, and Primrose Schools listings do not include a teaching credential. Kumon's Franchise Ownership FAQs page asks for a bachelor's degree; under its FDD, you must pass Kumon's background check and personal interview, complete both semesters of the Instructor Development Program, and, as an individual franchisee, instruct the students personally and devote full time to the franchise. At Mathnasium, your Center Director, if an owner, and the owner who holds the most equity must complete initial training within 180 days after signing, and a Center Director who is not an owner must complete the Center Director Training program before opening. At Primrose, your On-Site Owner, and any others Primrose designates, must complete the pre-opening parts of Initial Training before the School opens. Staff checks are a separate matter. Under the federal Child Care and Development Fund rules (45 CFR 98.43), states must require and conduct background checks, including an FBI fingerprint check and a search of the National Sex Offender Registry, for staff of child care providers that are licensed, regulated, or registered under state law. Under Primrose's FDD, you must obtain the child care facility licenses and approvals required by your state before you open, so ask your state how these checks apply to your staff; for a Kumon or Mathnasium Center, ask the franchisor and your state which checks apply to staff who work with students.

Read Item 19 and ask current owners. Any sales, income, or profit figures from the franchisor itself must be in Item 19 of its FDD, unless it shows you the actual records of an existing outlet you are considering buying or supplements Item 19; Franch Monsters publishes no earnings estimates of its own. Kumon's 2026 FDD states: "We do not make any representations about a franchisee's future financial performance or the past financial performance of company-owned or franchised outlets." Mathnasium's 2026 FDD reports 2025 average and median annual Gross Receipts of franchised Centers, as well as average and median expenses and operating profit, and Primrose's 2026 FDD presents the 2025 financial performance of franchised Schools, including gross revenue by occupancy rate and average profit and loss statements. Item 20 of the 2026 FDDs counts 1,710 Kumon Centers, 1,047 Mathnasium Centers (Total U.S. Outlets, Table No. 1), and 557 Primrose Schools in the USA at the end of 2025, and lists current franchisees with the address and phone number of each outlet. The list may cover only your state; if your state has fewer than 100 franchised outlets, it adds outlets in neighboring states and then the next closest states until at least 100 are listed. Ask several owners how many students they had at opening and a year later, how long students stayed, and how many staff that enrollment needed; at Kumon, enrollment also sets the royalty, which is charged per student.