Thank you for standing by. My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome you to the Perdoceo Education Corporation Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. Davis Snyder, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Jordan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our second quarter 2023 earnings call. With me on the call today is Todd Nelson, Executive Chairman; Andrew Hurst, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ashish Ghia, Chief Financial Officer. This conference call is being webcast live within the Investor Relations section at perdoceoed.com.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 Perdoceo 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 Perdoceo's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, 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 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 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 would like to turn the call over to CEO, Andrew Hurst. Andrew?

Thank you, Davis. And good afternoon to everyone joining us on this call. I would like to begin by thanking our faculty, student support staff and all our other employees for their continued dedication in educating and serving our students. Second quarter operating results came in ahead of our expectations, primarily due to further improvements in student retention and engagement as our faculty and student support teams continue to focus on improving academic outcomes and student experiences. We believe this ongoing improvement in student retention and engagement is supported by the various operating changes and student initiatives undertaken over the past few years. A quick recap of some of the key ones include, prospective student outreach and admissions changes that focus on enrolling students, who we believe will be more likely to succeed at one of our academic institutions as well as other enrollment process changes that allow us to better serve and onboard new learners in a more meaningful and efficient way. Second, investments to upgrade our student serving and support technology while continuing to leverage data analytics and machine learning that enable more timely and relevant engagement with our students. Third, pandemic era, governmental responses and other federal aid initiatives simplified processes for students to receive the financial support needed to continue their education, leading to higher retention and engagement. And finally, sequential growth experienced in our corporate partnership programs as our institutions continue to work with corporations that sponsor tuition assistance programs to provide a debt free education for their employees. Now let me provide further details regarding our operating results for the quarter. We reported second quarter net income of $54.7 million or $0.80 per diluted share. While adjusted earnings per diluted share, which excludes certain significant and noncash items, was $0.61. A quick note on…

Thank you, Andrew. I will now review our second quarter results and then discuss our balance sheet and 2023 outlook before handing the call back to Andrew for his closing remarks. Please note that all comparisons I discuss are versus the comparative prior year period, unless otherwise stated. Before I begin, a quick reminder about year-over-year comparability. Financial results for the AIU System and CTU reflect the two acquisitions that were completed by the academic institutions in July and December of 2022, respectively. Also, total enrollment numbers that I discuss or any enrollment trends that I refer to exclude learners participating in non-degree-seeking and professional development programs and in degree seeking, non-titled for self-pace programs at our universities. With that said, let us begin with an overview of our operating results. For the second quarter of 2023, total company operating income increased by 41.7% to $48.1 million as compared to operating income of $33.9 million. Adjusted operating income, which excludes certain significant and noncash items and which we believe is more indicative of our underlying operating performance, was $55.2 million, reflecting an increase of 31.5% when compared to the prior year quarter. This result came in above the high end of our outlook range for the quarter, primarily due to better-than-expected student retention at our universities. Net income for the quarter was $54.7 million compared to $25.8 million in the prior year quarter, equating to $0.80 per diluted share, while adjusted earnings per diluted share was $0.61 as compared to $0.42. I would like to point out that the second quarter GAAP earnings per diluted share were benefited by a one-time noncash gain related to the sale of certain Le Cordon Bleu trademarks and related items. As a reminder, while the teach-out of the culinary schools was completed during 2018,…

Thanks, Ashish. We are pleased with our second quarter operating results and the efforts of our institutions to educate our students. Thank you again for joining us today. End of Q&A: This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.+