Perdoceo Education Corporation

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Prodocio Education Corporation Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed immediately to prevent any background noise. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nick Nelson with Alpha-IR Group. You may begin.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. With me on the call today is Todd Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Ashish Gia, 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 uncertainties 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 reason. 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. Todd?

Thank you, Nick. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our second quarter 2025 earnings call. Our academic institutions remain focused on the goal of changing lives through education and preparing learners for essential skills needed in today's job market. CTU and AIUS offer a wide variety of career-focused programs which help learners thrive in today's evolving market, while St. Augustine prepares professionals to serve communities across the country with quality medical care. In today's call, I'll start by discussing some key highlights for the quarter, and then Ashish will provide more details on the operating and financial performance and discuss our higher 2025 outlook. As always, I'd like to thank our faculty, student support staff, and all of our employees for their outstanding commitment and hard work in serving and educating our students. Second quarter operating performance exceeded our expectations with net income of $41 million or 62 cents per diluted share, while adjusted earnings per diluted share, which excludes certain non-cash items, was 67 cents. During the quarter, we experienced total enrollment growth across our academic institutions supported by continuing momentum in student retention and engagement that has been trending near multi-year highs as well as increased interest from prospective students looking to pursue a degree at our academic institutions. Additionally, we believe that our continued investments in student enrollment and student support processes and technology have further enhanced academic outcomes and student experiences. Some key successes and other highlights for the quarter include, first, total enrollment growth grew 17% versus the prior year quarter, supported by 7% growth at both CTU and AIUS, as well as the acquisition of St. Augustine. At CTU, this marks seven consecutive quarters of total student enrollment growth, while total enrollments at AIUS were at the highest level in over a year. We continue to refine our marketing and admission spending strategies and are selectively leveraging generative artificial intelligence to identify and engage with prospective students who we believe are more likely to succeed at one of our academic institutions. We are also investing in upgrading and enhancing our technology with admissions, enrollment, and student support processes to ensure that our teams are well equipped to counsel and support the growing number of students enrolled at one of our academic institutions throughout the academic journey. Total enrollments from the corporate and student programs at CTU and AIUS continue to grow, and this remains a priority as we continue to make strategic investments in technology and personnel to support further enrollment growth. At St. Augustine, summer term new enrollments increased versus the prior year, with just under 4,000 total students enrolled at the university. We also expect new enrollment growth for our fall term, which is traditionally the biggest term of the year. Supporting this new enrollment growth at St. Augustine is the ongoing expansion of their program offering matrix in terms of new modalities and current campus locations with the goal of maximizing the geographical area they serve while providing students with a wider choice of taking their courses between online instruction and in-person experience at a campus location. as well as some hybrid options in between. With fall term total enrollments typically expected to be meaningfully higher than the summer term and supported by consistently high student retention trends, St. Augustine will positively contribute to the overall revenue and adjusted operating income for 2025 and is expected to further grow in 2026. Our capital allocation decisions during the year highlight, amongst other priorities, our continued commitment to returning capital to shareholders. During the first half of 2025, we purchased 1.6 million shares for $46 million at an average price of $28.19 per share. With less than $1 million remaining under our prior $50 million authorization and in line with our broader capital allocation strategy, The Board has approved a new $75 million share repurchase authorization for immediate use. In addition, effective July 31st, the Board increased quarterly dividend from 13 cents to 15 cents per share, the second such increase since dividend payments were initiated in 2023. This reflects our commitment to making dividends a growing and integral part of our capital allocation strategy. In summary, We continue to execute against our objectives of responsible and compliant growth. We have experienced good momentum through the first half of 2025 and are optimistic this year will end on a high note, which should set us up well for 2026 and beyond. Before I turn it over to Ashish, a quick note on recent legislative actions. While we continue to evaluate the reconciliation bill, The new rules were in line with our expectations, and we believe the overall impact of our industry should be positive. In addition, we are encouraged by the continuation of this administration's deregulatory efforts across numerous federal agencies, including at the Department of Education, and we look forward to the future rulemaking efforts that already have been announced. Overall, We believe these regulatory and legislative actions should provide further opportunities for responsible and compliant growth across our academic institutions. Ashish will now provide more details on the quarter, our outlook and enrollment trends. Ashish?