The Learning Experience franchise unit economics
The Learning Experience franchisees run early education and child care centers with outdoor playgrounds that charge families tuition.
The Learning Experience in the news
- The Learning Experience Plans 14 New Child Care Centers Across New York Region · Traded ·
- Banana Moon Joins The Learning Experience Family, Fuelling a New Chapter of Growth Across the UK · FinanzNachrichten (press release) ·
Each Learning Experience headline above is the publisher's own and links to the publisher. Averan Advisors checked these Learning Experience links on 11 October 2026. Franchise news lists news on 95 brands, including The Learning Experience. The Learning Experience is in the Early Education and Child Care franchise guide.
The Learning Experience franchise at a glance
Item 19 of The Learning Experience's 2026 FDD reports sales for franchised and company-owned centers open 24 to 47 months and over 48 months, for each fiscal year from 2023 to 2025.
The Learning Experience franchisees averaged $2,186,393 of sales in fiscal 2025, with a median of $2,168,511, according to Item 19 of The Learning Experience’s 2026 FDD, issued 24 April 2026. The 266 in that group are 61%* of The Learning Experience’s 436 locations. Fees paid to The Learning Experience come to about 9%* of sales.
- A Learning Experience franchise costs $805,799 to $5,658,799 to open, including a $60,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- The Learning Experience charges a royalty of 7% of sales, a 1% brand fund contribution and a $525 monthly technology fee.
- Work out The Learning Experience's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
- The Learning Experience centers are about 10,000 square feet with a 5,000 square foot playground.
These figures come from The Learning Experience's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- Learning Experience franchised centers lead company centers by 15.5% at 24 to 47 months and trail them by 19.3% at maturity.Learning Experience franchised centers bill $1,941,423 against $1,681,389 for company centers at 24 to 47 months, and $2,186,393 against $2,710,790 past 48 months *.
- The maturity gap widened from 11.5% to 24.0% in two years.Company mature sales rose 19.5% across the three years against 7.5% for franchised ones *.
- $1,010,764 separates the upper half of mature franchised centers from the lower half.The 131 upper-half mature franchised centers average $2,699,375 and the 135 lower-half centers average $1,688,611, within a full range of $715,099 to $4,834,709.
- Letting the franchisor develop the site costs $805,799 to $1,563,499; doing it yourself costs $2,264,799 to $5,658,799.The self-development route costs 2.8 times as much at the low end and 3.6 times as much at the high end *, because it buys the land.
- Franchise fees take 9.3% to 9.6% of sales, including a fee on the lease itself.The Learning Experience fees are a 7% royalty, a 1% brand fund, $6,300 of software and a lease administration fee of the greater of 8% of base rent or $1.80 a square foot *.
How much does a Learning Experience franchise make?
The average Learning Experience unit reported $2,186,393 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $2,168,511. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 9% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Top performers
What separates the top Learning Experience performers
The Learning Experience splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $2,699,375 a year. The lowest averaged $1,688,611. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $2,168,511. The average was $2,186,393. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 1.6× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Capacity.Locations run 10,000 square feet. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $805,799 to $5,658,799, a 7.0× range inside one brand.
- Cash needed in the first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Live operating levers
- Enrollment.The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Fees.The Learning Experience’s fees run about 9.0% of sales, and The Learning Experience sets no minimum royalty.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 266 of 436 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations. The only margin figures in the document come from the brand’s own locations.
How much locations differ
Gross sales above and below the group average, 2025
| Group | Centers | Average | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised mature, above average | 131 | $2,699,375 | $4,834,709 | $2,187,362 |
| Franchised mature, below average | 135 | $1,688,611 | $2,180,181 | $715,099 |
| Company mature, above average | 7 | $3,344,221 | $3,993,309 | $2,796,562 |
| Company mature, below average | 10 | $2,267,388 | $2,625,926 | $1,878,833 |
| Franchised intermediate, above average | 29 | $2,497,531 | $4,156,805 | $1,959,054 |
| Franchised intermediate, below average | 30 | $1,403,852 | $1,932,176 | $333,097 |
| Company intermediate, above average | 5 | $2,172,774 | $2,643,969 | $1,792,789 |
| Company intermediate, below average | 5 | $1,190,004 | $1,393,259 | $977,948 |
As the brand reported it.
The upper half of mature franchised centers bills 1.6 times the lower half. The upper half bills $2,699,375 and the lower half $1,688,611, which is $1,010,764 apart *. Both halves have traded more than four years in the same format under the same brand.
The lowest-selling mature franchised center bills $715,099. That is a third of its group average, in a building sized for about $2.2 million of sales. The highest-selling bills $4,834,709, 6.8 times more *.
The company's lowest-selling mature center bills $1,878,833. The Learning Experience's lowest-selling mature franchised center bills $715,099, so the company's lowest is 2.6 times higher *. The company's minimum instead of its ceiling is what produces its 24.0% average advantage.
An intermediate franchised center in the upper half already bills $2,497,531. That is above the mature franchised average of $2,186,393. So the build-up is short where the site works, and the mature average has a long tail of centers still short of it.
The brand’s own locations against yours
Gross sales by center age and ownership, 2023 to 2025
| Group | Year | Centers | Average gross sales | Median | Reaching the average | Against the other owner * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised, over 48 months | 2023 | 197 | $2,034,763 | $2,038,148 | 99 (50.3%) | −10.3% |
| 2024 | 232 | $2,163,703 | $2,160,607 | 116 (50.0%) | −18.1% | |
| 2025 | 266 | $2,186,393 | $2,168,511 | 131 (49.2%) | −19.3% | |
| Company-owned, over 48 months | 2023 | 18 | $2,269,149 | $2,269,043 | 9 (50.0%) | +11.5% |
| 2024 | 16 | $2,641,927 | $2,460,136 | 7 (43.8%) | +22.1% | |
| 2025 | 17 | $2,710,790 | $2,574,296 | 7 (41.2%) | +24.0% | |
| Franchised, 24 to 47 months | 2023 | 69 | $1,766,829 | $1,901,758 | 38 (55.1%) | +15.3% |
| 2024 | 65 | $1,863,709 | $1,888,521 | 35 (53.8%) | +15.3% | |
| 2025 | 59 | $1,941,423 | $1,932,176 | 29 (49.2%) | +15.5% | |
| Company-owned, 24 to 47 months | 2023 | 12 | $1,532,296 | $1,462,942 | 4 (33.3%) | −13.3% |
| 2024 | 11 | $1,615,902 | $1,521,312 | 5 (45.5%) | −13.3% | |
| 2025 | 10 | $1,681,389 | $1,593,024 | 5 (50.0%) | −13.4% |
Sales, medians and counts are as the brand reported it. The final column is marked *, comparing each group with the other owner at the same age in the same year.
Franchised centers bill more than company centers at 24 to 47 months and less at maturity. Franchised centers at 24 to 47 months bill 15.5% more than the company's own at the same age, and mature franchised centers bill 19.3% less *.
The maturity gap doubled in two years. The gap between franchised and company mature centers was 11.5% in 2023, 22.1% in 2024 and 24.0% in 2025 *. Company mature sales rose 19.5% across the period against 7.5% for franchised ones, so the company pulled away.
Franchised mature sales moved $151,630 in three years. Mature franchised sales at The Learning Experience rose from $2,034,763 to $2,186,393, which is 7.5% in total, or about 2.4% a year. Against the same period's wage and rent movements, that is a system holding its price.
Under half of mature franchised centers reach their own average. At The Learning Experience, 131 of 266 mature franchised centers reached their own average in 2025, down from 50.3% in 2023. The median at $2,168,511 sits $17,882 below the average, so the distribution is close to symmetrical with a long upper tail.
Fees and what it costs to open
Royalty and brand charges
| Charge | Rate | At $2,186,393 of sales |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 7% of sales | $153,048 |
| Brand awareness fund | 1% of sales, ceiling 2.5% | $21,864 |
| Lease administration fee | Greater of 8% of base rent or $1.80 a square foot | $18,000 at 10,000 square feet |
| Software service fee | $525 a month | $6,300 |
| Proprietary product purchases | Cost plus 18% licensing fee | $5,000 to $10,000 |
| Total | n/a | $204,212 to $209,212 |
| Share of sales | n/a | 9.3% to 9.6% |
| Brand fund at its 2.5% ceiling | +1.5% | +$32,796 |
We applied the published rates to the filed mature franchised average.
| Route | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| New center, franchisor develops the site | $805,799 | $1,563,499 |
| New center, you develop the site | $2,264,799 | $5,658,799 |
| Acquiring an existing center | $937,300 | $3,393,000 |
| Four centers under a multiple-center addendum | $3,401,196 | $22,813,196 |
As the brand reported it.
Discounts available
- The Learning Experience takes 20% off the franchise fee for honorably discharged veterans and active-duty personnel who own at least 51%.
- The Learning Experience offers existing franchisees in good standing a discounted franchise fee on four new centers under a Multiple Franchise Center Addendum (amount not stated in Item 5).
From Item 5 of the The Learning Experience 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
The Learning Experience charges a fee on the center’s rent. The fee is the greater of 8% of annual base rent or $1.80 a square foot, which is $18,000 a year at a 10,000 square foot center and more once base rent passes $225,000*. It is the only fee The Learning Experience charges that follows the landlord’s price instead of the center’s sales.
Having the site developed for you costs $1,459,000 less at the low end. The low end is $805,799 with the site developed for you and $2,264,799 without *. The difference is the land: the turnkey route leaves a third-party developer holding it and the self-development route puts it on the franchisee's balance sheet.
Six months of wages and operating costs is $400,000 to $650,000 of the opening budget. That is half of the low estimate. A center that fills slowly is spending that money against an empty building.
The brand fund can rise from 1% to 2.5%. At the mature average that rise costs a Learning Experience franchisee $32,796 a year more *, which would take the total load past 11%. It is the largest single piece of contractual headroom in the fee schedule.
The network of locations
Units opened and closed, 2023 to 2025
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised at start | 301 | 326 | 386 |
| Opened | 31 | 54 | 57 |
| Company centers bought by franchisees | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 11 | 2 | 5 |
| Ceased for other reasons | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Franchised at end | 326 | 386 | 436 |
| Company-owned at end | 40 | 31 | 29 |
| Total outlets at end | 366 | 417 | 465 |
As the brand reported it; every year reconciles exactly *.
Zero terminations and zero non-renewals in three years. The Learning Experience filed none while the system grew from 339 outlets to 465. The nine departures in that period are all filed as ceasing for other reasons, and 18 more moved back to the franchisor.
Twenty company centers went to franchisees across three years and 18 came back. The Learning Experience’s own estate shrank from 38 to 29 while its mature centers pulled 24.0% ahead of franchised ones on sales.
Openings rose from 31 to 57 a year. The intermediate franchised group fell from 69 centers to 59 over the same period, because centers kept graduating into the mature group faster than new ones reached 24 months.
The mature franchised group grew from 197 centers to 266. The Learning Experience has 35% more mature franchised centers, and their average rose 7.5%. A growing denominator holding its average is the sign of new sites performing near the old ones.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
How much does The Learning Experience franchise make?
The Learning Experience franchisees averaged $2,186,393 of sales in fiscal 2025, with a median of $2,168,511, according to Item 19 of The Learning Experience’s 2026 FDD, issued 24 April 2026. The 266 in that group are 61%* of The Learning Experience’s 436 locations. Fees paid to The Learning Experience come to about 9%* of sales.
What should a Learning Experience center be billing at The Learning Experience?
Among 266 franchised centers open more than 48 months, gross sales averaged $2,186,393 in 2025 with a median of $2,168,511, and 131 of them reached the average. The upper half averaged $2,699,375 and the lower half $1,688,611, with the full range running $715,099 to $4,834,709. Among 59 franchised centers at 24 to 47 months the average was $1,941,423 with a median of $1,932,176.
How do company-owned centers compare at The Learning Experience?
At maturity they bill more: $2,710,790 across 17 centers against $2,186,393 across 266 franchised ones, which is 24.0% and marked *. At 24 to 47 months they bill less: $1,681,389 across 10 centers against $1,941,423 across 59 franchised ones, which is 13.4% and also marked *. The company's advantage sits in its minimum. Its lowest-selling mature center bills $1,878,833 against $715,099 for the lowest-selling franchised one.
What fees does The Learning Experience charge?
The Learning Experience charges a royalty of 7% of sales on the first of each month. The Learning Experience brand awareness fund contribution is currently 1%, and the franchisor may raise it to 2.5%. It also charges a lease administration fee of the greater of 8% of annual base rent or $1.80 a square foot a year. The software service fee is $525 a month, with increases capped at 5% a year, and a further app subscription of about $99 a month is reserved. Proprietary products are bought at cost plus an 18% licensing fee, estimated at $5,000 to $10,000 a year. At the mature franchised average that comes to $204,212 to $209,212, or 9.3% to 9.6% of sales, which is marked *.
How much does a Learning Experience franchise cost to open?
There are two routes. When the franchisor finds and develops the site, a Learning Experience center costs $805,799 to $1,563,499, including a $60,000 franchise fee and a site development service charge of $250,000 to $312,500. When you develop the site yourself, a Learning Experience center costs $2,264,799 to $5,658,799, with a $75,000 site coordination fee in place of that charge and the land added. Acquiring an existing center runs $937,300 to $3,393,000 plus an acquisition fee, and four centers under a multiple-center addendum run $3,401,196 to $22,813,196. Six months of salaries and operating costs account for $400,000 to $650,000 of the first route.
Who does bookkeeping for a Learning Experience franchise at The Learning Experience?
Three things shape the close here. The lease administration fee is the greater of two measures, 8% of base rent or $1.80 a square foot. So it needs recalculating whenever the lease steps up. A center paying more than $225,000 of base rent at 10,000 square feet has moved onto the percentage, which is marked *. Second, proprietary product purchases have an 18% licensing fee on top of cost plus freight, insurance and tax. So the landed cost of those items sits well above their invoice line and belongs in cost of sales. Third, late reporting has its own schedule ($50 an occurrence plus $30 a day, 5% of an enrolled corporate child's tuition a day for corporate contract reports) which makes the reporting calendar a cash item. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- The filing gives no profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to The Learning Experience
These are questions the The Learning Experience filing leaves open. An owner or a buyer can put them to The Learning Experience directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- Which factors does The Learning Experience see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many Learning Experience locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →Which half of the mature group are you in at The Learning Experience?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around sales per center against the published halves, a lease administration fee that moves with rent. The reporting also tracks the landed cost of proprietary purchases.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from The Learning Experience Systems LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. The Learning Experience® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: The Learning Experience Systems LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 24 April 2026.
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The Learning Experience reads against the rest of the early education and child care group: Celebree School · Kiddie Academy · Lightbridge Academy · Primrose Schools · Soccer Shots · The Goddard School. The early education and child care guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- What does this location earn on the money I put into it?It works out the payback period and cash-on-cash return for one unit.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.