Perdoceo Education Corporation

Hello and welcome to the Predisayo Education Corporation first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Now, I would like to hand the call over to Nick Nelson from Alpha IR. Nick, you may begin.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2025 earnings call. With me on the call today is Todd Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Ashish Ghia, Chief Financial Officer. This conference call is being webcast live within the Investor Relations section at ProdocioED.com. A webcast replay will also be available on our site, and you can always contact the Alpha IR Group for investor relations support. Let me remind you that this afternoon's earnings release and remarks made today include forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, These statements are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Prodocio Education and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results, performance, business prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. These risks and certainties include but are not limited to those factors identified in Prodocio's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as expressly required by the securities laws, the company undertakes no obligation to update those factors or any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, developments, or change circumstances or for any other reasons. In addition, today's remarks refer to non-GAAP financial measures, which are intended to supplement but not substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measures. The earnings release that accompanies today's call contains financial and other quantitative information to be discussed today, as well as the reconciliation of the GAAP to non-GAAP measures, and is available within the investor relations page of the company's website. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Todd Nelson.

Thank you, Nick. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2025 earnings call. Our academic institutions remain focused on the goal of changing lives for education and preparing learners for essential skills needed in today's job market. CTU and AIUS provide learners with relevant knowledge and equip them with essential skills needed to thrive in today's evolving job market. while St. Augustine prepares professionals to serve and provide quality medical care to communities across the country. The enrollment trends that we have been experiencing across these three institutions have reinforced and validated our strategy of prioritizing student experiences and academic outcomes that we believe should ultimately support sustainable and responsible growth. Now to the results. I'll discuss some key highlights for the quarter. Ashish will then review the operating and financial performance and discuss our updated 2025 outlook. As always, I'd like to thank our faculty, student support staff, and all other employees for their outstanding commitment and hard work in serving and educating our students. First quarter results were ahead of our expectations with net income of 43.7 million or 65 cents per diluted share while adjusted earnings per diluted share, which excludes certain non-cash items, was 70 cents. We entered 2025 with student retention and engagement near multi-year highs and expect CTU and AIUS to operate at or near these levels for the coming quarters. First quarter results were positively impacted due to these retention and engagement trends, as well as increased interest from prospective students looking to pursue a degree at one of our academic institutions. Some of the key observations and general highlights for the quarter include first, in response to the increased levels of prospective student interests, our academic institutions have increased their marketing and admission spending to effectively and efficiently identify and engage with prospective students looking to pursue a degree at one of our academic institutions. Recall that our institutions continuously adjust their marketing strategies to identify prospective students who they believe are more likely to succeed in one of their academic programs. We remain optimistic for the remainder of 2025 and will continue to monitor the different requirements and updated expectations from various federal and state regulatory bodies related to prospective student outreach. At both CTU and AIUS, student enrollments for the corporate student programs continue to grow. And this area remains a priority as we continue to make strategic investments in technology and personnel to further grow these programs. We maintained our commitment to training and developing our admissions, enrollment, and student support teams, ensuring they are fully prepared to assist the increasing number of students throughout their educational journey at our academic institutions. At St. Augustine, spring term new enrollments increased versus the prior year, and we also expect new enrollment growth for the summer and fall terms. St. Augustine continues to expand its program and offerings in terms of new modalities and current campus locations with the goal of maximizing the geographical area they serve while providing students with a wide choice in taking their courses between instruction online and in-person instruction at a campus location, as well as hybrid options in between. With over 90% student retention from term to term in 2024 and experiencing similar retention levels in 2025, the addition of St. Augustine will positively contribute to the overall revenue and adjusted operating income growth for 2025 and is expected to grow further in 2026. During the quarter, we returned approximately $34.4 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock repurchases, buying back 985,000 shares during the quarter. Our capital allocation strategy continues to include the return of cash to shareholders via quarterly dividends and shareholder repurchases. A quick note on total enrollments. At CTU, total enrollments increased by 10.6% compared to the prior quarter, And although AIUS decreased by 4.5%, we do expect both CTU and AIUS to experience total enrollment growth for the second quarter. Ashish will provide more details on these total enrollment trends. During the spring term, which just ended, St. Augustine had approximately 4,200 students enrolled at the institution. Please note that St. Augustine has a traditional university calendar with the three academic terms, spring, summer, and fall, with the summer term commencing in about two weeks. Overall, I am pleased with the momentum we experienced in the first quarter and remain optimistic for the remainder of 2025. Ashish will now provide more details on the quarter, our outlook, and enrollment trends. Ashish?