Perdoceo Education Corporation

Kristina Armstrong, Good day everyone, and thank you for standing by my name is Christina and i'll be your conference operator today. Kristina Armstrong, At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the producer education corporation first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Kristina Armstrong, Please note that all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise, I would now like to turn the floor over to Nick Nelson from outfire Nick the floor is now yours.

Nick Nelson, Thank you operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2026 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 assumptions made by and information currently available to Prodocio Education Corporation and involves risks and certainties 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. 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 reconciliations of the GAAP to non-GAAP financial 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 first quarter 2026 earnings call. Our academic institutions are committed to supporting adult learners by offering flexible educational pathways that help working professionals grow in their careers while also training and educating the healthcare workforce to provide quality medical care across communities nationwide. CTU and AIUS continue to serve a broad population of career-minded students through fully online and hybrid programs, while the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences prepares graduate level health science professionals in physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, and nursing. First quarter operating performance exceeded our expectations and further highlighted the success of our balanced approach in operating our academic institutions. By delivering on our financial commitments while also investing in our student onboarding enrollment, academic and student support processes, we continue to position the company for sustainable and responsible long-term growth. I'll start by discussing some key highlights for the first quarter. Ashish will then provide more details on our operating and financial performance and discuss the 2026 outlook. As always, I'd like to thank our faculty, student support staff, and all other employees for their outstanding and ongoing commitment and hard work in serving and educating our students. Net income for the first quarter was $54 million, or 85 cents, per diluted share, an increase of 30.8% versus the prior year quarter earnings per share. While adjusted earnings per diluted share, which excludes certain non-cash items, increased 28.6 percent to 90 cents as compared to 70 cents in the prior year these results were ahead of our expectations student retention and continued to trend near multi-year highs and we further increased our investments in marketing admissions to serve increased interest from prospective students looking to pursue a degree at our academic institutions with that context here are a few additional highlights for the quarter First, total student enrollments increased by 1.9% at CTU and 3.1% at St. Augustine, which was partially offset by a 2.2% expected decline at AIUS. Strategic investments in technology continue to improve student experiences across our academic institutions while enhancing the operating effectiveness of our functional areas. Ongoing artificial intelligence efforts focus on our students in classroom learning as well as enhancing various operating and functional processes. Faculty, where feasible, are utilizing AI in their classrooms with the goal of enabling students to leverage AI both personally and professionally. Academic leadership is exploring various AI-focused courses and programs with plans to launch later this year pending required approvals. We are also 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 also have several pilots and tests in process that continue to evolve and shape the use of AI across various student support and functional areas, including software engineering and development. We will continue to share updates and success as relevant. Our institution's corporate student programs remain a meaningful avenue supporting total student enrollment growth, particularly at CTU. Through these programs, our institution provide accredited degree opportunities to employees of our partner organizations, supporting their potential career advancement while helping corporate partners strengthen employee development and retention. We continue to invest strategically in technology and talent to expand the program and enhance academic outcomes across our institutions. In summary, we are executing against our objectives of sustainable and responsible growth and remain optimistic for 2026 and beyond. Ashish will now provide more details on the financial results, our 2026 outlook, and student enrollment trends. Ashish?