Franchise training programs: hours, location and costs in 259 FDDs

Franchise training in 259 disclosure documents

Every franchisor selling in the United States must describe its training program in Item 11 of the franchise disclosure document, in a table titled TRAINING PROGRAM that lists each subject with its hours of classroom training, hours of on-the-job training and location (16 CFR 436.5(k)(7)). The same paragraph requires the franchisor to state any training charges, who pays enrollees’ travel and living expenses, who must attend, and whether refresher courses are required.

This fact sheet reads those disclosures in 259 FDDs filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and issued between 2025-01-24 and 2026-08-18, about 18 brands in each of 14 sectors. The hours come from the TRAINING PROGRAM tables, and the location and attendance terms from the Item 11 text. Fees, the number of people trained without tuition, wages, refresher fees and conference terms were coded from the whole FDD: Item 11 plus Items 5, 6 and 7 and the training and meeting clauses of the franchise agreement, because many franchisors state a training fee or a mandatory convention only there. Opening timelines are covered in how long it takes to open a franchise and total budgets in franchise initial investment; this page does not repeat them.

How many hours of initial franchise training brands disclose

The typical program is a little under two working weeks. Across 252 brands whose table gives hours, the median initial program is 76 hours; half of brands fall between 40 and 120 hours. That is 1.9 weeks at 40 hours a week.

The spread is wide. 28.2% of brands disclose 40 hours or fewer, roughly one week, while 10.7% disclose more than 160 hours, about four weeks. Food and beverage brands make up 11 of the 27 programs over 160 hours; the single longest table totals 631 hours, at a restaurant brand. Excluding lodging, whose hotel tables are split by job role, the median rises to 80 hours.

90.3% of brands require the program to be finished before opening. Ranges in the tables are counted at their high end, so these figures describe the most a brand says it will provide, not a minimum.

Classroom or on-the-job: how franchise training hours split

The typical brand teaches more in the classroom than on the job. The median brand’s table shows 35 classroom hours and 26 on-the-job hours, and on-the-job work makes up 39.9% of the median brand’s program. 24.2% of brands list no on-the-job hours at all, and only 40.5% put more than half of the hours on the job.

Counted by hours instead of by brand, the picture flips: 53.6% of all initial training hours in the sample are on the job, because the longest programs are mostly on the job: 72.0% of the hours in programs over 160 hours and 86.7% of food and beverage training hours. Online and video hours are counted as classroom here; several franchisors put pre-opening e-learning in a separate column, which this page adds to classroom time.

Where franchise training happens: headquarters, a working unit or online

Most programs mix a trip to the franchisor with online modules. 78.6% of the 257 brands with a program hold part of it at headquarters or a franchisor training center, and 39.3% use an operating company-owned or franchised unit. Many programs also include time at the franchisee’s own site; that location is in the downloadable CSV but not reported here, because blind checks found it hard to code reliably.

77.0% deliver part of the program online or state that they may, for example as self-paced modules completed before an in-person week. Only 8.6% hold no part of it at headquarters or an operating unit. Because 91.4% send trainees to headquarters or another unit for at least part of it, travel is a cost for most buyers.

Who must attend franchise training

The owner usually has to go. 80.7% of brands require the franchisee, an owner or an operating principal to attend and pass initial training, and another 15.1% accept either the owner or a designated manager. 3.1% name only managers or key staff, mostly hotel brands that train the people who will run the property.

Managers are often required as well: 52.1% of brands make a manager or other key employee complete the program, and 15.8% require it only when the owner appoints a manager. Where the FDD states how many people train without tuition, the median is 2. 2 brands, both pharmacy franchises, provide no initial program. Buyers planning to hire a manager should read this section with semi-absentee franchise rules.

Who pays for franchise training: fees, travel and wages

Tuition is usually included; the trip is not. 73.9% of brands with a program say initial training is free or covered by the initial franchise fee, and 23.7% charge a separate training fee, often set out in Item 5 rather than Item 11. 2.3% do not say either way anywhere in the FDD.

The franchisee pays trainees’ travel, lodging and meals in 89.1% of brands, 96.2% of those that state who pays. Only 9 franchisors pay or share it, through a voucher, a credit, a cap or coverage for a set number of trainees. At least 64.6% state that trainees’ wages are the franchisee’s cost; the true share is likely higher, because the blind checks only ever found this statement missed, never wrongly recorded.

Item 7 budgets the cost: the median high-end estimate for training fees and travel is $6,220 (245 brands), about 1.29% of the high Item 7 total. The line sits inside the franchise costs a buyer has to fund before opening.

Ongoing franchise training and the annual conference

Most systems keep the right to call you back. 14.8% of brands require recurring training, such as an annual recertification or a refresher every few years, and another 68.9% reserve the right to require additional or refresher courses. At least 74.7% charge or may charge for it; the true share is likely higher.

Conference rules are stricter. Attendance is mandatory when a conference is held at 52.9% of brands and can be made mandatory at 24.5%; 69.3% charge or may charge a registration fee or a fee for not attending. Many of these rules appear in Item 6 or the franchise agreement, not in Item 11, so a buyer who reads only the training section will miss them.

Does franchise training depth follow the investment?

Not closely. The median brand discloses 19.7 hours of initial training per $100,000 of its Item 7 midpoint, and the rank correlation between hours and investment is 0.16, close to none. Brands with large investments do not disclose much longer programs than small ones.

By sector, business services brands give the most training per dollar (65.9 hours per $100,000), because the businesses cost little to open (median Item 7 midpoint $91 thousand). Sector medians of the hours themselves are in the time-to-open report. Food and beverage has the longest median program but also a $682 thousand median midpoint. Lodging sits at 0.2 because hotel budgets run into the millions and franchisors train hotel staff by role. Sector medians rest on about 18 brands each.

Questions to ask about a franchise training program

The FTC’s consumer guide to buying a franchise suggests checking Item 11 for the trainers’ qualifications, who is eligible, the cost of training new employees, session length, and whether ongoing training costs extra, and talking with recent franchisees about training quality. The disclosures measured here suggest a short list for each brand:

• What do the TRAINING PROGRAM table totals add up to, and are the hours ranges or fixed?
• How much of it is on the job, and in whose unit?
• Which parts are online, and can they be done before signing the lease?
• How many people does the fee cover, and what does each extra or replacement trainee cost?
• What will travel, lodging and lost wages cost, and does the Item 7 training line cover them?
• Is refresher training or the annual conference mandatory, and what does missing it cost?

The FDD must reach you at least 14 calendar days before you sign or pay (16 CFR 436.2). The buying a franchise guide covers the rest of that review.