NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS

The question every serious franchise investor asks when evaluating a technology education concept is whether the underlying demand is structural or cyclical. For the NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise, the answer is embedded in four decades of continuous operation and a global footprint that now spans over 30 countries across six continents. Founded in 1982, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers emerged at the precise moment that personal computing began its transformation from novelty to business necessity, and the company has remained at the intersection of enterprise technology adoption and workforce skills gaps ever since. Operating as an Educate 360 brand with CEO Jason Cassidy at the parent company helm and Mikell Rigg Parsch serving as CEO of New Horizons itself with a 91% approval rating, the organization has scaled through a combination of corporate-managed centers and franchised locations. At peak global scale, the network exceeded 280 training centers across 56 countries as of 2007, and the North American footprint has maintained more than 70 locations. The company generates approximately 350 million dollars in total annual revenue, a figure that underscores the commercial scale behind the brand name that franchisees are licensing. For investors evaluating the technical and vocational education category, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers represents a 40-plus-year incumbent brand with deep enterprise relationships, over 30 authorized training partnerships with technology leaders including Microsoft, Amazon, and Red Hat, and an instructor catalog exceeding 750 courses delivered across more than 1,300 open enrollment instructor-led classes annually. This analysis is prepared independently by PeerSense research analysts and reflects no promotional relationship with the franchisor.

The technical and vocational education market in which the NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise competes is substantial and accelerating. The global technical and vocational education market was valued at approximately 622.4 billion dollars in 2021, with a more specifically defined subsegment valued at 46.60 billion dollars in 2025 and projected to reach 62.40 billion dollars by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 6.01 percent. The secular tailwinds driving this expansion are not difficult to identify: automation, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation are simultaneously displacing job functions and creating acute demand for workers skilled in operating, configuring, and managing advanced technical systems. Workforce professionals accounted for 34.26 percent of the technical and vocational education market in 2024 and are expanding at an 8.01 percent CAGR through 2030, making them the fastest-growing and most commercially valuable customer segment for a business like New Horizons. The online learning segment of this market is advancing at a 6.34 percent CAGR through 2030, which aligns directly with New Horizons' capacity to deliver training through virtual classroom environments in addition to physical centers. Corporate-sponsored training programs are posting the fastest growth of any funding category at a 6.76 percent CAGR through 2030, a dynamic that benefits New Horizons given its historical strength in enterprise and corporate accounts rather than consumer retail. Industries including manufacturing, projected at 4.5 percent annual growth, healthcare, and information technology are generating structural demand for certification and skills training that a 40-year-old brand with Microsoft and Amazon authorized training status is uniquely positioned to capture. Public institutions contributed 46.76 percent of market share in 2024, while government investment in vocational training continues to grow in response to persistent unemployment and skills gap concerns, creating both public-sector customer opportunities and potential funding sources for students attending New Horizons centers.

The NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise investment involves a range of financial commitments that reflect the variable nature of the center-based education format. Total investment can range from approximately 42,000 dollars on the low end to 653,800 dollars on the high end, depending on market size, facility requirements, and whether the franchisee is entering a greenfield location or converting an existing space. A commonly cited midrange investment band of 400,000 to 500,000 dollars reflects a more typical full-service learning center build-out with appropriate technology infrastructure. The liquid capital requirement is 250,000 dollars, with working capital needs within a new operation running from 25,000 to 100,000 dollars of that figure, and the net worth requirement is set at 500,000 dollars, positioning this as a mid-to-premium franchise investment relative to the broader franchise universe. The initial franchise fee is 25,000 dollars at base, though enterprise-level arrangements can involve fees ranging from 60,000 to 150,000 dollars, a spread that reflects the company's multi-tier licensing structure. Veterans and first responders receive a 50 percent discount on the franchise fee, a meaningful cost reduction for qualifying investors that lowers entry costs by 12,500 dollars or more. The ongoing royalty structure is set at the greater of 6 percent of monthly gross revenues or a minimum royalty fee, placing New Horizons in line with category-standard royalty rates for technical education franchises. The marketing fund contribution is set at the greater of 2 percent of monthly gross revenue or a minimum marketing fee, with an additional assessment mechanism possible if 67 percent of all U.S. franchisees approve it through a one-vote-per-Franchise-Agreement process. Additional operational costs include delivery fees ranging from 7 to 41.50 dollars per student per day, master license administration fees of 30 to 50 dollars per student per class depending on third-party vendor charges, and audit costs ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 dollars plus interest. Transfer fees are structured at 5,000 dollars per Franchise Agreement for standard transfers or 3,000 dollars for qualified transfers. Financing is available directly from the franchisor for qualified applicants: the franchisor may finance up to 50 percent of the initial franchise fee at 10 percent per annum or the highest legal rate, whichever is lower, using a standard promissory note.

The NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise operating model centers on delivering instructor-led technical training to enterprise clients, government agencies, and individual professionals seeking certification in technology disciplines. Daily operations require franchisees to manage a learning center facility, coordinate instructor scheduling across more than 750 available courses, handle enterprise sales relationships, and maintain compliance with more than 30 authorized training partnerships. The staffing model requires the designation of one equity owner holding at least 5 percent ownership as the primary owner of record and a dedicated general manager who devotes full-time attention to the center's daily management and operations. Initial Franchise Training is a comprehensive program lasting a minimum of eight days, delivered in three parts at New Horizons University in Tampa, Florida, or virtually, incorporating formal instructor presentations, role-play exercises, case studies, online self-paced modules, and in-center on-the-job experience. One program specification cites 72 hours of initial classroom training within the IFT structure, ensuring that franchisees develop operational competency before opening. The training duration can be reduced by mutual agreement if the franchisee demonstrates prior relevant experience, providing flexibility for investors with technology education or corporate training backgrounds. Optional Initial Sales Training is offered to the franchisee's sales team at a fee dependent on third-party vendor licensing, currently ranging from zero to 2,000 dollars, and attendance fees for additional training programs may not exceed 750 dollars per person. The company's proprietary Mentored Learning concept structures individualized technical training through customized plans combining hands-on experience, written instruction, and verbal instruction, an approach that has demonstrably improved comprehension and certification exam pass rates, giving franchisees a pedagogical differentiator when competing for enterprise training contracts. Territory rights include a provision that the franchisor agrees not to authorize live instructor-led classroom training from an affiliate-owned or another franchisee-owned center within the franchisee's territory, subject to limited exceptions, though prospective franchisees should carefully review the current Franchise Disclosure Document regarding the scope of territorial exclusivity. The initial franchise term is five years, with an unlimited number of five-year renewal options available to franchisees who comply with the Franchise Agreement and meet minimum market penetration and performance requirements.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for the NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise, meaning that prospective investors will not find franchisor-provided revenue averages or profit margins within the FDD itself. This is a material consideration in due diligence: franchisors are not legally required to disclose Item 19 data, but the absence of disclosure means investors must develop their own unit economics models from independent sources and validation conversations with existing franchisees. At the total company level, New Horizons generates approximately 350 million dollars in annual revenue across its global network, and with more than 70 locations in North America alone, the implied average revenue per North American location is approximately 5 million dollars, though this figure blends corporate-managed and franchised centers and should not be treated as a per-unit franchise guarantee. The global presence across more than 30 countries and the company's enterprise customer base suggest that individual center revenue is heavily influenced by local corporate client density, the ability to close multi-seat training contracts, and the franchisee's capacity to maintain relationships with major employers in the territory. The company's total investment range of 42,000 to 653,800 dollars, against a 350-million-dollar system-wide revenue figure and more than 274 units referenced in 2025 data, suggests average unit revenue in the range of 1.2 to 1.5 million dollars at the lower-bound estimate using network-wide figures, though again, this is an independent analytical estimate and not a franchisor-represented number. Franchise investors who require transparent Item 19 data before committing capital should weigh this factor carefully alongside the brand's enterprise relationships, the 40-year operating history, and the structural demand growth in the technical training market before making a determination. The royalty structure at 6 percent of gross revenues, combined with a 2 percent marketing fee and additional vendor pass-through costs, creates a total fee burden that at mid-level revenues could represent 10 to 12 percent of gross revenue when all recurring fees are aggregated.

The NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise growth trajectory reflects a brand actively managing its footprint through both franchising and direct corporate expansion. In January 2021, New Horizons expanded corporate management into 12 new markets across the Midwest and East Coast, including Livonia, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Troy in Michigan; Chicago and Rosemont in Illinois; Nashua, New Hampshire; New York City and Westchester in New York; and Cincinnati and Cleveland in Ohio. This expansion into major metropolitan markets was explicitly designed to provide a broader portfolio of courses for corporate customers, signaling that the franchisor views large enterprise clients as the primary growth lever rather than consumer-facing retail traffic. The company's strategic use of franchising to achieve speed to market has been complemented by a policy of carefully selected buybacks of franchised centers where corporate management can improve margins, a dual-track approach that gives the parent company flexibility in how it deploys and reclaims capital across the network. New Horizons' competitive moat derives from multiple structural advantages: more than 30 authorized training partnerships with technology vendors including Microsoft, Amazon, and Red Hat create barriers to entry that a new operator cannot replicate, instructor quality ratings averaging 4.8 out of 5 across thousands of verified reviews represent a service quality signal that enterprise procurement teams weigh heavily, and the 40-year brand history provides the credibility required to win government contracts and large corporate training programs. The Mentored Learning methodology, which combines customized training plans with multi-modal instruction techniques shown to improve certification pass rates, represents a proprietary pedagogical approach that differentiates New Horizons from generic training vendors. As an Educate 360 brand, New Horizons benefits from parent company infrastructure, shared resources, and corporate backing that independent training centers cannot access.

The ideal NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise candidate is an investor with a background in enterprise sales, corporate training, technology services, or education management who understands how to navigate organizational procurement processes and build sustained relationships with HR and IT leadership at large employers. The operating model is not a passive absentee investment: the requirement for a full-time, dedicated general manager means that even investors who do not operate the business day-to-day must recruit and retain an experienced center manager from the outset. Candidates with prior experience in B2B services, workforce development, or technology staffing will recognize the sales cycle and client management dynamics that drive revenue in this model. The franchise agreement term is five years with an unlimited number of five-year renewal options, provided minimum market penetration and performance requirements are met, giving long-term operators a stable contractual foundation to build enterprise client relationships across contract renewal cycles. Available territories should be evaluated in the context of local corporate density, the presence of technology employers, proximity to government agencies with training mandates, and regional workforce development funding programs that can subsidize student enrollment costs. The franchise's global presence in over 30 countries creates a cross-border enterprise account opportunity for franchisees operating in markets served by multinational companies that have established New Horizons relationships in other geographies. Transfer fees of 5,000 dollars per Franchise Agreement for standard transfers provide a defined resale cost structure for investors who plan to eventually exit through a sale of the business rather than a wind-down.

For franchise investors who have narrowed their search to the technical and vocational education category, the NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise opportunity represents a compelling combination of brand heritage, enterprise market positioning, and structural industry tailwinds that warrants rigorous independent due diligence. The global technical and vocational education market's projected growth from 46.60 billion dollars in 2025 to 62.40 billion dollars by 2030 at a 6.01 percent CAGR creates a rising-tide environment for a 40-year incumbent with authorized training partnerships across Microsoft, Amazon, Red Hat, and more than 27 additional technology vendors. The absence of Item 19 financial disclosure in the current FDD places additional importance on direct franchisee validation calls, territory market analysis, and independent revenue modeling before capital is committed. The NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise fee structure, investment range, royalty obligations, and enterprise-focused operating model are all factors that PeerSense has analyzed using independent research and Franchise Disclosure Document data. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score analysis, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS against other technical education franchise opportunities on objective, data-driven criteria. The current PeerSense FPI Score for NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS is 18, classified as Limited, a rating that reflects the data available in the current disclosure environment and serves as a starting point for deeper investigation rather than a final verdict on franchise quality. Explore the complete NEW HORIZONS COMPUTER LEARNING CENTERS franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.