Primrose Schools
Financial Plan
Liquid capital
The amount you need to secure the necessary loans.
Total investment
Total Investment to launch the business, including initial fees ($80,000)
The Concept
Primrose Schools is a U.S. early childhood education and childcare franchise offering full-day early education and care for children from infancy through pre-kindergarten. Founded in 1982, the brand is built around its proprietary Balanced Learning® curriculum, which combines purposeful play, academics, character development and social-emotional learning. Primrose currently has more than 500 schools across 34 states and Washington, D.C.
The franchise model combines childcare operations with a substantial real-estate component. Primrose supports franchisees with site selection, financial planning, school development, construction, training, enrollment and ongoing operational support. The company is currently offering both ground-up development and adaptive-reuse opportunities, as well as identified immediate-development sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Primrose Schools franchise?
The investment is highly dependent on the development model. The 2026 FDD reports total estimated investment of approximately $5.02 million to $7.96 million for the base offering. Primrose’s current website separately presents $4.2M–$6.2M for ground-up development and $1.4M–$5.5M for adaptive-reuse, excluding real-estate costs.
The initial franchise fee for a new school is $80,000. Qualifying existing franchisees, acquisitions and veterans may receive reduced fees under specific circumstances.
What are the requirements to become a Primrose Schools franchisee?
Primrose does not require prior education or childcare experience, but it looks for owners with strong leadership, management and communication skills. Current third-party summaries of the 2026 franchise requirements report approximately $750,000 in liquid assets and $1.5 million in net worth.
Given the size of the investment, the opportunity is best suited to well-capitalized operators who are comfortable managing employees, enrollment, regulatory compliance and a significant real-estate development project.
What ongoing fees does a Primrose Schools franchisee pay?
The current 2026 FDD calls for a 7% royalty on gross sales and a 2% Brand Fund contribution. Franchisees also have a local advertising obligation of 1% of gross revenue or $1,000 per month, whichever is greater. A cooperative advertising contribution can also apply in qualifying markets.
This means the recurring brand and advertising burden can amount to approximately 10% of gross revenue before any applicable cooperative contribution.
How much revenue can a Primrose School generate?
The 2026 FDD provides an unusually detailed Item 19 disclosure. For 2025, 520 franchised schools were included in the gross-revenue analysis, with an overall average of approximately $2.78 million. The top 25% based on average occupancy generated average gross revenue of $3,586,393.
Primrose also reports average EBITDA of $768,966 for its top occupancy quartile, based on 89 rent-reporting schools. This is an EBITDA figure, not franchisee take-home profit, and the franchisor explicitly cautions that individual results may differ.
Can franchisees own multiple Primrose Schools?
Yes. Primrose supports multi-school development and continues to award new territories across the U.S. Its current development strategy includes both individual school opportunities and larger development arrangements.
The system had 557 franchised schools at the end of the latest FDD reporting period, up from 525 the prior year, with no company-owned schools reported.
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