education tutoring founded 1979 ; 37 years ago 1979 as sylvan learning corporation portland oregon u.s. headquarters baltimore maryland u.s. owner sterling capital partners citigroup private equity website www.sylvanlearning.com sylvan learning inc. formerly sylvan learning corporation consists of franchised and corporate supplemental learning centers which provide personalized instruction in reading writing mathematics study skills homework support and test preparation for college entrance and state exams . sylvan provides personalized learning programs and primarily serves students in primary and secondary education . contents 1 history 2 references 3 bibliography 4 external links history edit sylvan learning began in portland oregon in 1979 at the sylvan hill medical center building . it was founded by former school teacher w. berry fowler who had also worked with the educational company the reading game . by 1983 sylvan had dozens of franchises and moved its headquarters to bellevue wa . in 1986 having over 500 franchises sylvan went public on the nasdaq exchange and used funds to develop corporate learning centers in key cities . by july 1987 kindercare then based in montgomery al owned the majority of stock and moved the company to alabama . most of the staff did not relocate . in 1991 the company was taken over by r. christopher hoehn saric and douglas l. becker . in 1997 the company had an annual revenues of 246 million and in addition to tutoring centers sylvan had expanded to offer teacher training computerized testing distance learning and other services . 1 in 2003 sylvan learning was purchased by apollo management from sylvan learning systems inc. its parent company . 2 3 sylvan learning systems inc. shifted focus to post secondary education and to reflect that change was renamed laureate education in 2004 . 3 in 2016 john mcauliffe was named as chief executive officer . 4 sylvan learning has been ranked 25 times in entrepreneur magazine s franchise 500 ranking . 5 over 28 franchised centers located in multiple states closed between 2008 and 2013 some very suddenly . 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 references edit cavanaugh joanne p. september 1998 . sylvan s fast learners . johns hopkins magazine . retrieved 2015 02 22 . walsh mark 19 march 2003 . sylvan learning changing focus sells k 12 sector . education week . retrieved 22 october 2013 . a b sylvan learning renamed . new york times . 18 may 2004 . retrieved 22 october 2013 . learning sylvan . sylvan learning franchise opportunities meet our leadership team . franchiseblog.sylvanlearning.com . retrieved 2016 02 12 . sylvan learning record franchise sales accessed january 9 2011 brennan george 10 may 2008 . sylvan tutoring centers close . cape cod times . local media group inc. retrieved 14 july 2015 . sylvan learning centers suddenly close . wisconsin state journal . madison.com . 11 may 2010 . retrieved 14 july 2015 . hilton john 16 january 2009 . dickinson sylvan learning center closes . the sentinel cumberlink.com . the sentinel . retrieved 14 july 2015 . cassidy cj 20 may 2009 . sylvan learning center closes in cape girardeau . kfvs12 news . worldnow . retrieved 14 july 2015 . braden jonathon 23 january 2013 . sylvan shuts down tutoring centers . columbia daily tribune . columbia daily tribune . retrieved 14 july 2015 . nienaber dan 25 august 2009 . sylvan closing was surprise to some . mankato free press . mankato free press . retrieved 14 july 2015 . sylvan closing its doors . ktiv4 . worldnow . 29 january 2010 . retrieved 14 july 2015 . sylvan closing outrages parents teachers . the denver channel . scripps tv station group . 11 may 2011 . retrieved 14 july 2015 . flack eric 28 december 2011 . customers of shuttered sylvan learning center will get satisfaction . wave 3 news . worldnow . retrieved 14 july 2015 . learning center closes leaving some without refunds . cbs minnesota . cbs local media . 8 january 2011 . retrieved 14 july 2015 . dickinson christina 11 may 2011 . sylvan learning center closes abruptly . 9 news colorado . multimedia holdings corporation . retrieved 14 july 2015 . sylvan to close . fremont tribune . fremont tribune . 29 april 2010 . retrieved 14 july 2015 . bibliography edit ritzer george 1996 the mcdonaldization of society an investigation into the changing character of contemporary social life revised ed . thousand oaks california pine forge press external links edit official website this article relating to education in the united states is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sylvan learning & oldid 743279839 categories companies based in baltimorecompanies established in 1979education companies of the united stateslearning programstest preparation companiesunited states education stubshidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipediaall stub articles navigation menu personal tools not logged 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