Phoenix Education Partners, Inc.

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Phoenix Education Partners fourth quarter and full year earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press the star one again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Beth Corinelli, Vice President of Inventory Relations. You may begin.

Good afternoon and welcome to Phoenix Education Partners' fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings conference call. Speaking today on the call will be Chris Lynn, Chief Executive Officer, and Blair Westbloom, Chief Financial Officer. Before I hand you over to Chris, please keep in mind that certain statements and projections of future results made in this presentation constitute forward-looking statements that are based on current market, competitive and regulatory expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially. Listeners should not place undue reliance on such statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after this presentation, whether a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, or otherwise. Please see our public filings, including our latest Form 10-K and earnings press release, filed today and available on our website for a discussion of risk factors that relate to forward-looking statements. In today's presentation, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures. You should consider our non-GAAP results as supplements to and not in lieu of our GAAP results. We refer you to form 10-K and earnings press release for reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and related information. I'll now turn the call over to Chris.

Thank you, Beth, and good afternoon, everyone. welcome to phoenix education partners first earnings call following our ipo in early october we appreciate you joining us today as we share our results of the fourth quarter and full year ended august 31st 2025. today blair and i will discuss performance highlights recent developments in our outlook for fiscal year 2026. we appreciate your continued support and interest as we begin this next chapter as a public company At the University of Phoenix, our mission is to expand access to higher education that helps students gain the knowledge and skills to achieve their professional goals, enhance the performance of their organizations, and contribute to their communities. Serving working adults has been at the heart of our mission since our founding nearly 50 years ago. Our student body consists primarily of working adults who are seeking opportunities for career advancement, a growing segment of higher education. 75% are currently employed while pursuing a degree. The average age of our student is 38 years old. Over 50% of our students are first-generation college, and almost two-thirds are caring for a family while pursuing their degree. We serve this underserved population by putting the needs of our students first, offering flexible, career-relevant programs that empower working adults to grow professionally, with programs tailored to the realities of balancing work and life. We operate a mission-driven culture built on modern technology strong academic programs, and a data-informed student experience, all centered on student success. Today, the university currently offers 72 degree granting programs and 33 non-degree certificate programs, each aligned to career-relevant skills valued by employers. As part of this skills-aligned curriculum, our students have earned more than 900,000 skill badges, which serve as micro-credentials demonstrating mastery of specific competencies applicable in the workplace. Our transformative journey as a private company allowed us to focus on and deliver significant improvements in student retention, completion, and satisfaction rates, demonstrating the strength and scalability of our model. As we begin our next chapter, we're continuing to focus on delivering strong student outcomes through personalized, career relevant, and affordable solutions, positioning the university for continued momentum and profitable growth in the years ahead. In fiscal 2025, we delivered solid financial performance, in line with expectations outlined during the IPO process, which reflect the strength of our mission-driven model and focus on student outcomes. Average total degree enrollment grew to nearly 82,000 in fiscal 2025, up from approximately 79,000 in fiscal 2024, supported by strong student retention throughout the year. Expansion of enrollment affiliated with our employer relationships remained a key growth driver this year. Enrollment through these employer relationships grew to 32%, of average total degree enrollment, up from 30% in fiscal 2024, demonstrating strong, sustained demand from working adults through this channel. As the U.S. workforce evolves due to advancements in technology and the half-life of skills continues to shorten, employers are increasingly prioritizing relationships with education providers that align with retention and upskilling strategies. We believe our affordable, adaptable, and skills-aligned programs remain attractive to employers that are focused on building and retaining talent. We continue to focus on improving student outcomes and increasing operating efficiencies through the use of AI and automation. We are leveraging machine learning and AI across the student journey to enhance marketing, retention, and student-facing effectiveness and efficiency. Our technology platform supports longstanding models such as student engagement monitoring, and AI-assisted enrollment support. And we are expanding into a wide range of AI capabilities that enhance personalization, streamline operating workflows, and improve both student and staff experiences. As an update on accreditation, earlier this month, our College of Nursing received a 10-year accreditation from the Master of Science in Nursing program from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, a testament to our faculty and staff's commitment to academic excellence and professional quality. From a regulatory standpoint, we have a strong foundation and ongoing practices to promote compliance across all key metrics. In August of 2025, the Department of Education renewed our Title IV Program Participation Agreement and approved recertification through June 30, 2031, reaffirming our continued eligibility for federal aid programs. Following the recent resolution of the federal government shutdown under a short-term funding measure last week, We note that the shutdown had no material impact on our business or our fiscal 26 outlook. During the temporary lapse in federal tuition assistance funding for active duty military students, we provided short-term financial relief to ensure their studies could continue uninterrupted, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to supporting students through periods of uncertainty and helping them stay on track towards their educational goals. In Q4, we continued to experience strong applicant demand. and sustained improvements in enrollment productivity. We move certain processes that deter and identify unusual enrollment activity to the top of the enrollment funnel at the application process. As expected, this stopped unusual enrollment activity earlier in the process and enabled our enrollment representatives to better serve our prospective students, resulting in increases in enrollment productivity. We continue to streamline this process, which is leading to continued improvements in productivity. We're continuing to enhance efficiency across the enrollment process by using advanced analytics, automation and artificial intelligence to better identify prospective students and personalize engagement efforts that are designed to lower acquisition costs and support improved conversion over time. Combined with automation and AI-assisted tools in enrollment, counseling and financial aid, these initiatives are designed to improve the overall student experience while driving continued efficiencies in our cost structure. These factors, as well as continued improvements in retention, supported the 5.7% year-over-year increase in average total degree enrollment for the fourth quarter and support our outlook for fiscal 2026. As we look ahead to fiscal year 2026, we're encouraged by strong retention trends and steady demand across our programs. Our continued focus on student success and the learner experience is intended to support sustainable performance and position us for long-term growth. Becoming a public company marks an important milestone in our transformation, and we believe that we have built a strong foundation to deliver accessible, skills-aligned education that empowers working adults to build job-relevant skills and pursue their professional goals. We'll continue to advance our mission through innovation, technology, and a deep commitment to helping more adults achieve their educational and professional goals. With that, I'll turn it over to Blair to walk through our financial results and outlook for fiscal year 2026.