Perdoceo Education Corporation

operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Perdozio Education Corporation third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute 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 third 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 of the company's website at ProdocioED.com. A webcast replay will also be available on our site for 90 days following the call, 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 as amended. These statements are based on any assumptions made by an information currently available to produce your 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 forward looking 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. 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 released 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 third quarter 2025 earnings call. In today's call, I'll start by discussing some key highlights for the quarter. Ashish will then provide more details on the operating and financial performance and discuss the 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. Our academic institutions share a common mission of transforming lives through education by equipping learners with the practical skills required to succeed in today's dynamic work environment. CTU and AIUS provide diverse career-focused programs designed to help students excel in rapidly changing job market. The University of St. Augustine develops professionals to deliver exceptional healthcare services to communities nationwide. Third quarter operating performance exceeded our expectations with net income of 39.9 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, while adjusted earnings per diluted share, which excludes certain non-cash items, was 65 cents as compared to 59 cents in the prior year. These operating results are supported by continued 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 one of our academic institutions. During the quarter, we also continue to invest in student technology and student support processes that we believe will further enhance academic outcomes and student experiences. Some key successes and other highlights from the quarter include total student enrollments grew 15.1% versus the prior year quarter, driven by 6.7% growth at CTU and the acquisition of St. Augustine. At CTU, this marks eight consecutive quarters of total enrollment growth, primarily due to continued progress within the corporate student program, as well as strong levels of interest from prospective students in pursuing a degree. As expected, AIUS reported a decline in total student enrollments of 2.9%. Excluding the impact from the academic calendar and number of enrollment days, AIUS would have also reported total enrollment growth. As a reminder, we expect AIUS to end the year with double-digit total enrollment growth. At St. Augustine, fall term, new student enrollments increased as compared to the prior year, and there were approximately 4,400 total students enrolled for the term. Please note that the fall term is typically the biggest term of the year in terms of student enrollments. Supporting new enrollment growth at St. Augustine is the ongoing expansion of their program offering matrix in terms of introducing new modalities at current campus locations. The goal is to maximize the geographical area each campus location can serve while providing students with a wider choice in taking their courses, whether online instruction, in person at a campus location, or a hybrid option in between. We are very pleased with the current trends and expect adjusted operating income at St. Augustine to grow in 2026 as compared to 2025. Total enrollments from the corporate student programs at CTU and AIUS continue to increase, and these programs remain a priority as we continue to make strategic investments in technology, and personnel to assist further enrollment growth in these corporate programs. Improving technology for admissions, academic, and student support processes is key priority, and we continue to equip our teams with the necessary tools to effectively counsel and support the growing number of students through their education. We continue to refine our marketing and admission spending strategies and are integrating artificial intelligence to help identify and engage prospective students who we believe are more likely to succeed at one of our academic institutions. Our capital allocation decisions throughout the year highlight, amongst other priorities, our continued commitment to returning capital to shareholders. Commensurately, during the quarter, we repurchased $20.6 million worth of shares under our recently approved $75 million share repurchase authorization. through both share repurchases and quarterly dividends, we have returned a total of $94.1 million to shareholders for the first three quarters of 2025, underscoring our ongoing commitment to delivering long-term value and disciplined capital deployment. In closing, I am pleased with the momentum we've experienced through 2025 and remain optimistic for 2026 as we continue to focus on serving students while investing in further enhanced academic outcomes and student experiences. Ashish will now provide more details on the quarter, our outlook for the remainder of 2025, and enrollment trends. Ashish?