Exam Preparation and Tutoring Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 8,300 exam prep and tutoring service providers in the US offer preparation for standardized tests and academic tutoring programs. Some firms provide basic education and personal improvement programs. Firms may also specialize in occupation, technical, and trade professional development. The industry includes non-profit organizations, franchises, chains, and independent operators.
Online Tutoring Disrupts Industry Model
Online tutoring and exam prep programs expand reach, but also create competition for traditional centers and independent tutors.
Slowing Demand, Heavy Competition
Weaker demand and increased competition are expected to limit revenue and profit growth for exam prep and tutoring service providers.
Industry size & Structure
The average exam prep and tutoring service provider operates out of a single location, employs 13 workers, and generates about $703,000 annually.
- The exam prep and tutoring services industry consists of about 8,300 firms that employ about 110,000 workers and generate $5.9 billion annually.
- The industry includes nonprofit organizations, franchises, chains, and independent operators.
- The industry is concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom; the top 50 companies account for about 41% of industry revenue, with the top four companies accounting for 14% of industry revenue.
- Large companies include Huntington Learning Centers, Sylvan Learning Centers, and Princeton Review.
Industry Forecast
Exam Preparation and Tutoring Services Industry Growth

Recent Developments
Mar 8, 2023 - Pilot Program Brings Tutors Into Classrooms
- Polk County Public Schools in Florida has launched pilot a program through which teachers directly assign specific students to receive tutoring during class. Teachers can sign up specific students for one-on-one or small group online tutoring sessions during class. Tutors are sourced through Varsity Tutors, the company that designed the program. Schools also have access to more standard on-demand tutoring outside of school hours as part of the deal.
- Many school systems are choosing opt-in online tutoring programs that experts say haven't been shown to fill learning gaps for students, according to the Washington Post. Experts say that structured, data-driven “high-impact” tutoring is far more effective and is backed by years of research. It is typically delivered several times a week over an extended period, using the same well-trained tutor to drill down on missed learning while staying aligned with classroom instruction. School districts identify students who need it, ideally incorporating it into their regular school day. The cost and level of difficulty are higher, but the return is too. “They both have the word ‘tutoring’ in them, so it seems like the same thing but it’s really not,” said Susanna Loeb, an education professor at Stanford University who has been deeply involved in research on the subject and worked with school systems nationally.
- Fewer universities are requiring prospective graduate students to submit a GRE score with their admission application. Experts say that universities seem to believe that there are better alternatives for evaluating students for graduate school—and are acting accordingly. The GRE was designed in the 1950s to allow returning Americans soldiers, many of whom were using an educational assistance benefit within the GI Bill, to apply to graduate school. The exam measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills, which the Educational Testing Service says reflects “the kind of thinking” demanded in graduate school programs. The problems with the GRE are well-documented, including the exam’s limited ability to measure whether a student will succeed in school. Multiple studies also have found that the test is biased against people based on their socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Consolidation in the higher education sector is accelerating as students continue to pack into flagship universities and brand-name colleges while less-prestigious schools struggle. About 200 colleges closed in the past 10 years, four times more than during the previous decade, according to data compiled by the consulting group EY Parthenon. There have been 95 college mergers in the past four years, compared with 78 over the prior 18 years. Experts cite rising costs for college and uneven return on investment, which has diminished public confidence in higher education, opened the door to competitors, and led to falling enrollment.
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