Good afternoon. My name is John, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Perdoceo Education Corporation Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Nick Nelson, Alpha IR. You may begin your conference.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. With me on the call today is Todd Nelson, 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. 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 pros -- 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 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 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'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 fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. Today, I look forward to discussing the operating success we've experienced over the past year and how our academic institutions are furthering our goals of changing lives through education and preparing learners for essential skills needed in today's job market. The enrollment trends we are experiencing have reinforced and validated our strategy of optimizing and prioritizing student experiences and academic outcomes that we believe should ultimately support sustainable and responsible growth. Our acquisition of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences as a prestigious academic institution in the graduate health sciences field, offering clinical teaching excellence through its innovation, individualized and quality clinical and distance education model. With a strong focus on retention and graduating students, St. Augustine prepares medical professionals to serve and provide quality medical care to communities across the country. Now to the results. I'll first discuss some key highlights for the quarter and full year. Ashish will then review the operating and financial performance and discuss our 2025 outlook. As always, I'd like to thank our faculty, student support staff and all of their employees for their under -- outstanding and ongoing commitment and hard work in serving and educating our students. 2024 was a year of operating efficiency as we experienced further improvement in student retention and engagement across our academic institutions. This coupled with various federal student aid initiatives put in place by the Department of Education supported total student enrollment growth through 2024. We are entering 2025 with student retention and engagement near multi-year highs and expect to operate at or near these levels through the next few quarters. The entire Perdoceo team remains focused on continuing to enhance and support student retention…

Thank you, Todd. I will now review the fourth quarter and full-year results and then discuss our balance sheet and 2025 outlook before handing the call back to Todd for his closing remarks. Please note all comparisons discussed on this call are versus the comparative prior year period unless otherwise stated. Please also note that the total student enrollment numbers discussed on this call or any enrollment trends that are referred to on this call, exclude learners pursuing non-degree seeking and professional development programs and degree-seeking non-Title IV self-paced programs at our universities. Finally, a quick reminder about year-over-year comparability. 2024 financial results include one-month of operating performance from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences acquisition, which will be reported as a separate segment and which we will refer to as St. Augustine. With that said, let us begin with an overview of our operating results. Net income for the full year was $147.6 million, or $2.19 per diluted share compared to $147.7 million, or $2.18 per diluted share. Adjusted earnings per diluted share, which we believe is more indicative of the underlying operating performance was $2.29, as compared to $2.10 in the prior year. Please note that the 2024 EPS and adjusted EPS were higher than '23, despite the prior year EPS, including a non-recurring federal income tax benefit of approximately $4.5 million, or $0.07. Full-year 2024 operating income of $174.3 million was $23.8 million higher as compared to the prior year quarter. Adjusted operating income, which excludes certain significant and non-cash items that we believe is not necessarily indicative of the underlying operating performance was $192 million, or 9.9% higher as compared to the prior year. As expected, revenue for the full-year was lower by $28.7 million, which was more than offset with $52 million in…

Thank you, Ashish. I am proud of our performance in 2024 and pleased with our operational execution, which continues to focus on improved academic outcomes and experiences for our students across our academic institutions. We're excited about the addition of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, our academic institutions remain focused on serving and educating students, and I'd like to once again thank all of our students and staff for their ongoing hard work and dedication. Thanks again for joining us.

That concludes today's meeting. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.