"Huntington Learning Center cost" is the search of a parent who has booked the evaluation and wants to know what the conference afterwards will cost before sitting in it. Huntington does not say: its centre pages promise that "cost structure, competitive hourly rates and flexible payment options" will be explained at that conference. But the company files a franchise disclosure document every year with the average tuition its centres actually charged, one franchisee publishes a price list, and parents put the numbers in reviews. This page gathers them, works out what a programme adds up to, reads the reviews with their counts, compares Huntington with Sylvan and a 1-on-1 tutor, and gives a printable worksheet for the conference. The Sylvan prices are on the Sylvan cost page.
Download the Huntington cost worksheet (PDF) (the published and reported rates, the programme arithmetic, the questions to ask at the conference, the review summary and the alternatives; two pages, free)
What Huntington is
A tutoring franchise founded in 1977 in New Jersey by Raymond and Eileen Huntington, still family-owned and based in Oradell, New Jersey, with about 255 franchised and 4 company-owned centres at the end of 2024 (down from about 290 in 2020). The product: a paid academic evaluation of two to two and a half hours, a conference at which the centre recommends a programme in hours, then 1-on-1 instruction (the format the centre pages describe) in reading, writing, maths, phonics, study skills, science and subject tutoring from elementary to high school, and test preparation for the SAT, ACT, PSAT, AP, SSAT and ISEE, state tests and the ASVAB, in the centre or online.
What Huntington charges: the figures that exist
| Source | Figure | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Huntington's franchise disclosure document (2025 edition, 2024 data), as reported | average tuition $61 an hour for learning-centre programmes (median $59) across 248 centres; $82 an hour for test preparation | the company's own figures, reported second-hand |
| The previous filing (2022 data) | $58 an hour tutoring; $79 test prep | same |
| Huntington Learning Center of Elk Grove, California (franchisee site) | $70 an hour; specialised tutoring "typically $60 to $70"; 1-to-1; test prep in two-hour sessions two or three times a week; subject tutoring 90 minutes to two hours once or twice a week; 50-hour minimum for new families; free consultation, no trial sessions | the only centre page we found with a price |
| The academic evaluation | $195 ("a $195 value" on a union benefits page for the New York and New Jersey centres; $195 on a price-listing site; a Missouri parent paid $100) | widely quoted, set by each centre, often discounted |
| Parents in reviews | $65 to $85 an hour; 80 sessions recommended (Bellmore, New York); 25 hours of writing plus 70 of reading recommended (Missouri); $65 an hour for three 90-minute sessions a week, about $1,170 a month (Florida); a $250 registration fee not disclosed in advance | individual reports |
| Third-party cost guides | $40 to $75 an hour, evaluation $150 to $200, SAT or ACT packages of about $1,300 for 14 hours and $2,800 for 32 hours per subject | estimates, not Huntington's |
What Huntington does not publish anywhere: a price list, the session length (parents report 90 minutes to two hours), group pricing, or the refund terms.
What a programme adds up to
| Programme | Hours | At the filing's average | At the Elk Grove rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The minimum programme | 50 | about $3,050 | $3,500 |
| A typical tutoring recommendation | 80 | about $4,900 | $5,600 |
| A long reading programme | 95 | about $5,800 | $6,650 |
| SAT or ACT preparation | 40 | about $3,300 at $82 | |
| Three 90-minute sessions a week for a school year (the Florida parent) | about 160 | about $9,800 at $61; $9,000 reported at $65 |
Add the evaluation ($100 to $195) and, at some centres, a registration fee. Programmes are usually paid up front or on a payment plan, and unused hours are the subject of most of the complaints below.
The reviews, with the counts
| Platform | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Trustpilot (huntingtonhelps.com) | 2.8 out of 5 from 8 reviews; 63 percent one star; the company has not replied to the negative ones |
| BestCompany | 1.6 out of 5 from 28 user reviews; three quarters one star |
| ComplaintsBoard | 14 complaints; billing for sessions not held |
| BBB | no corporate profile found; centres are listed individually and none we saw is accredited: Bellevue, Washington and Peachtree City, Georgia A+; Maple Grove, Minnesota not rated with no complaints; Apopka, Florida C for not responding to a complaint |
| Google, large centres | Naperville, Illinois 383 reviews; Cherry Hill, New Jersey 281; Dallas 257; Plymouth, Minnesota 195; Katy, Texas 184; mostly positive |
| Glassdoor (tutors) | 3.5 from about 1,290 reviews; 58 percent would recommend; low pay, dated materials |
| Indeed (tutors) | 3.6 from about 900 reviews |
The same reading as for Sylvan: the national review sites are small and angry, the centre's Google page is the useful one, and the tutors' view (they are paid $15 to $22 an hour against the $61 to $82 billed) tells you something about who will be in the room.
What parents praise, and what they complain about
Praise: "knowledgeable, caring staff"; directors who review each session and give "clear next steps"; flexible scheduling; communication "top-notch"; SAT scores that rose; the 1-on-1 format itself.
Complaints, in order of frequency:
- The sell after the evaluation. The evaluation's report leads to a recommendation of 50 to 80 hours, sometimes more than one programme at once ("25 hours of writing plus 70 of reading"), and parents describe feeling pressed to sign that day. One family's independent neuropsychological testing disagreed with the evaluation's findings.
- Paying up front and refunds. "Pay up front and there is no refund"; credit for unused hours denied; a refund that came back $1,000 short; $3,220 withheld from a GED programme; $1,300 charged for unattended hours (the centre's reply: the student attended under 17 percent of the hours); a $250 registration fee not disclosed.
- Price. $9,000 a year for a first-grader's reading and maths; "the hourly cost" as the one reason a satisfied parent would not recommend it.
- Results and method. An SAT score that fell after the programme; a "rigid method" and "outdated materials", which the tutors' reviews also mention.
- Closures. A centre that shut "abruptly" after a family's large upfront payment (a 2026 review).
Huntington's results claims
Huntington's results page says the average SAT score of its prep students rose from 1035 to 1264 (229 points) and the average ACT from 22.2 to 27.6 (5.4 points), and that 41 percent of its students who applied to Ivy League schools reported scholarship offers averaging $126,697. The footnote: surveys of 3,298 Huntington students graduating in 2019, with no comparison group. No guarantee is published. The two-grade-level claim repeated on listing sites does not appear on Huntington's own pages that we could read.
Huntington vs Sylvan vs a 1-on-1 tutor
| Huntington | Sylvan | 1-on-1 online tutor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | 1-on-1 in the centre or online | up to 3 students per teacher | one tutor, one child, online |
| How it is sold | paid evaluation, then a programme in hours, paid up front | free assessment, then a monthly membership of 2 to 4 sessions a week | by the hour or month, no contract |
| Price | about $61 an hour tutoring, $82 test prep (the filing's averages); $70 at the one centre that publishes | $37 to $75 a session | US tutors $40 to $100 an hour; online from India US$10 to $13 |
| A 50-hour programme | about $3,050 to $3,500 | about $2,750 (50 sessions at $55) for a third of a teacher | $500 to $650 |
| The catch | the hours recommended, and the refund terms | the ratio, and the plan's exit terms | finding and checking the tutor |
What to ask at the conference
- The hourly rate, the session length, and the total hours recommended, in writing, with the reason for the number.
- Whether the hours can be bought in a smaller block (the minimum), and what a pause, a transfer or a stop costs.
- Who the tutor will be, their qualification in the subject, and whether it is the same person each session.
- How progress is measured against the evaluation, how often, and whether you get the session notes.
- The evaluation fee, the registration fee, and whether either is applied to the programme.
- Whether the programme is 1-on-1 for every session.
If the answer is "not at this price"
Huntington's format is the right one for a child with a specific gap; its price is the problem. A 1-on-1 online class with a master's-qualified tutor from India, the same tutor every week, on the exact topic the child is stuck on, with the recording and marked work after every class, is US$10 to $13 an hour with us, no evaluation fee, no registration fee, no block of hours; the free 30-minute first class is a real lesson on that topic.
Download the Huntington cost worksheet (PDF)
Questions parents ask
1How much does Huntington Learning Center cost per hour?
2How much is the Huntington evaluation?
3What does a Huntington programme cost in total?
4What do the Huntington reviews say?
5Does Huntington guarantee results?
6Huntington vs Sylvan: which is better?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
Shobha
Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha
Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.