Good morning and welcome to the Second Quarter 2017 Career Education Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Sam Gibbons. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Bryan. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. With me on the call today is Todd Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer; A.J. Cederoth, Vice - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Ashish Ghia, Vice President of Finance. This conference call is being webcast live within the Investor Relations section at careered.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 morning's earnings release and remarks made today include forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. These statements are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Career Education and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results, performance and 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 Career Education's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other 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 changed 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 and slide presentation which accompany today's call and which contain financial and other quantitative information to be discussed today, as well as the reconciliation of the GAAP to non-GAAP measures are available within the Investor Relations section at careered.com. So with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Todd Nelson. Todd?

Thanks, Sam. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. I'll begin today's call by reviewing our second quarter highlights and then A.J. will take you through the financials before I provide some final closing remarks. Overall, we experienced better-than-expected operating efficiencies across all of our segments as well as positive total enrollment trends within our university segments, with enrollment increasing 3.2% as compared to the prior year. We're positioned well to serve the demand that we're experiencing and are pleased to report second quarter operating results which were ahead of our expectations. Second quarter 2017 operating income for the University Group and Corporate which for the rest of this script will be referred to as ongoing operations, was $23.3 million compared to $31 million for the second quarter of 2016. Adjusted operating income which excludes certain items not considered reflective of underlying operating performance, was $25.9 million compared to $33.8 million for the prior year quarter. On our last call, we discussed several drivers which were expected to impact second quarter 2017 adjusted operating income for ongoing operations as compared to 2016. These drivers included the impact of the calendar redesign at AIU which shifted earning days into the second half of 2017; our investments related to the admissions and advising center in Phoenix; and the timing of certain second quarter operating expenses compared to 2016. Although these results were aligned with our expectations, second quarter adjusted operating income for ongoing operations was approximately $4 million or 18% higher than the upper end of our outlook range of $20 million to $22 million provided last quarter. These favorable results were primarily driven by better-than-expected enrollment trends within our University Group, marketing efficiencies and timing of certain operating expenses. Early indicators of demand and operating performance at our admissions…

Thank you, Todd. Let's start with the consolidated results. For the quarter, consolidated revenue was $146.2 million which was down 19.9% year-over-year, with the decline in revenue primarily attributed to the teach-out strategy in our Culinary Arts and Transitional Group as these schools progress towards teach-out completion. Consolidated operating income decreased by $8.2 million year-over-year to $9.1 million. The decline in year-over-year performance was expected and is primarily driven by the calendar redesign at AIU as the redesign had a significant impact on revenue for the quarter. As discussed previously, there were 7 or approximately 8% fewer earning days at AIU for the second quarter as compared to the prior year. Also contributing to the decline were the timing of certain operating expenses and the impact of the expenses associated with our new admissions and advising centers in Phoenix. We ended the quarter with $172.1 million of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and available-for-sale short term investments which will be referred to as cash balances for the remainder of today's discussion. Net cash provided by operations was $4.8 million during the quarter, driven by operating income. This compares to cash provided of $16.8 million during the prior year quarter. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $1.4 million. Moving to the results of the University Group and Corporate. Total enrollment in the University Group improved by 3.2% year-over-year. However, revenue declined by 3.5% year-over-year in the second quarter, primarily driven by fewer earning days for AIU which was mentioned earlier. Operating income was $23.3 million compared to $31 million in the prior year quarter, again, primarily driven by the decline in revenue. In the Culinary Arts and Transitional Group segments, revenue continued to decline year-over-year, in line with the progress of the teach-outs. Operating loss increased to $14.2 million in the…

Thanks, A.J. In closing, we've completed the first half of 2017 with performance that was ahead of our expectation and we remain confident in our long term outlook. Enrollment trends for both the universities are expected to be positive. And for all of the reasons we've discussed today, we expect both total and new enrollment growth for the University Group for the second half of 2017. This growth expectations continue to give us confidence to make smart investments in student-serving areas as well as faculty and technology upgrades. And we will continue to analyze and evaluate additional growth investments as opportunities arise. Our teach-outs are on track for completion and we remain committed to providing every student with reasonable opportunity to complete their program of study. We have a strong cash position which improved during the second quarter and believe this will enable us to make further investments in our universities for the benefit of our students. Our transition from a period of teach-outs to what we believe will be a period of sustainable and responsible growth will provide the company with incremental opportunities to maximize value for all of our stakeholders. Throughout our objectives of enhancing student experiences, retention and outcomes will remain our top priority. Thank you again for joining us this morning. And we'll now open the call for any analyst questions.

[Operator Instructions]. We currently don't have any questions in the queue. So I'd like to turn the conference back over to Todd Nelson for any closing remarks.

We want to thank you again for joining us this morning and we do look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you.

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.