Project Highlights
- Higher Ground Education has 84 U.S. locations and 1,900+ current company employees
- School team has direct EB-5 experience with 100% I-526 approval rate for 23 previous direct EB-5 investors
- Diversified EB-5 investment across 11 locations in Florida, Illinois, and Ohio; 6 schools already operating
- Expected to create a total of 280 jobs; 14 jobs for each EB-5 investor
- Only 20 EB-5 investor slots with a high job cushion; 40% more jobs than required
- Fixed preferred return and a clear exit strategy that complies with EB-5 rules
- EB-5 compliance and monitoring provided by EB5AN, an experienced EB-5 operator
- Total project cost is $29.9M; sponsor contribution is $19.9M (67%) and EB-5 direct investment is up to $10.0M (33%)
Project Summary Video
Project Introduction Download
11 School Locations
Project Gallery
Marcum LLP is one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the United States, with offices throughout the U.S., Grand Cayman, and China. They offer an extensive range of professional services and a high degree of specialization. Marcum is a founding member of the Leading Edge Alliance (LEA). As the second-largest international professional association, LEA Global can open doors in the more than 106 countries where its 220 member firms operate.
EB5 Affiliate Network is a national EB-5 consulting and investment firm with of a unique team from a diverse set of institutional backgrounds including business strategy, private equity, capital markets, and real estate as well as securities, tax, and immigration law. The firm’s diverse backgrounds give it an advantage in identifying and structuring EB-5 deals from a professional finance perspective with established developers in the United States who are interested in creating economically feasible and financially sound EB-5 projects.
Established in 2001, Signature Bank is a full-service commercial bank in New York City. Its total assets exceed $26 billion. Signature Bank’s clients consist mostly of private entities, each with a net worth of at least $20 million. It is traded in the U.S. stock market on NASDAQ with the trade symbol SBNY. Signature Bank was voted by Forbes Magazine in 2014 as the #1 publicly traded bank in the U.S.
Higher Ground Education, Inc. (HGE) is a global Montessori school operator providing infant care through high school learning. HGE has received over $100M in institutional investment through the end of 2021 and currently operates 80+ schools in the United States serving more than 8,000 children with both in-person learning and at-home virtual programs. The firm delivers original programs with an emphasis on structured freedom and independent learning. HGE schools have strong positive feedback from families of enrolled students and a diverse and highly experienced corporate leadership team.
