Good afternoon, and welcome to the Third Quarter 2017 Career Education Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions]. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Sam Gibbons. Please go ahead.

Thanks Phil. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us. With me on the call today is Todd Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer; Ashish Ghia, Vice President and Interim Chief Financial Officer. This conference call is being web cast live within the Investor Relations section at careered.com. A web cast 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. 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 a 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?

Thank you, Sam. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. I will begin today's call by reviewing the third quarter results that came in ahead of our expectations, as well as the operating progress we have made at our universities. Then Ashish will review the financial results and outlook in more detail, before I provide some final closing remarks. During the third quarter, we continue to experience better than expected enrollment trends in operating performance within our ongoing operations, and are on track, to close 2017 ahead of our initial expectations. For the remainder of today's discussion, ongoing operations will represent University Group and Corporate. As evidenced by our third quarter results, the underlying theme of sustainable and responsible growth is gaining momentum. This is primarily driven by the technology initiatives and student support investments we have committed to and executed upon throughout the year. Moreover, the responsible completion of our teach-out campuses will further free-up incremental resources for the future, to progressively ramp up our investments in technology and student initiatives, that are showing positive impacts on student retention, outcomes and experiences. For the quarter, total enrollments within University Group, increased 2.5% as compared to the prior year, and new student enrollments were up 5.8% for the quarter as compared to the prior year quarter, which represents the highest increase in the past 10 quarters. At CTU, total enrollment increased by 0.9%, but new enrollment growth of 10.9%, represented the highest increase in 11 quarters. CTU experienced double digit new enrollment growth, primarily driven by our focus on and investments in, student support operations. We believe this growth at CTU is a testament to the positive impacts of the improvements and investments we have made in student support operations, both before and after they have become enrolled in…

Thank you, Todd. Today, I will start with a review of our results from ongoing operations, and then, briefly discuss the teach-outs, which are now substantially complete. Finally, I will review our balance sheet and the outlook for the year, before handing the call back to Todd for his closing comments. In the third quarter, total enrollments within the University Group grew by 2.5%, supported by new enrollment growth of 5.8% during the quarter, as compared to the prior year quarter. This trend represents the highest new enrollment increase in the past 10 quarters, and was primarily driven by our Phoenix Admissions and Advising Center for CTU. Third quarter University Group revenue of $141.5 million, was an increase of 1.4% year-over-year, primarily driven by the growth in total enrollments, as well as the number of earning days in the quarter at AIU. Operating income from ongoing operations was $23.6 million as compared to $16.2 million in the prior year quarter, an increase of 45.9%, while operating margins increased to 16.7% as compared to 11.6% in the prior year quarter. This performance, was primarily driven by continued efficiency in our marketing costs, timing of various operating expenses, as well as improving enrollment trends. Adjusted operating income for ongoing operations was $26.2 million, which was better than the high end of our outlook range of $22 million to $24 million, primarily driven by better than expected retention and new enrollment trends, that positively impacted revenue. Moving to our teach-out campuses; during the quarter, we completed the teach-out of our Culinary Arts Campuses, providing approximately 8,500 students with an opportunity to complete their programs of study. As expected, operating losses increased to $19.1 million in the third quarter of 2017 as compared to $16.9 million in the prior year quarter, while the adjusted…

Thank you, Ashish. In summary, we are nearing the end of a successful 2017, during which the University Group performance consistently tracked ahead of our expectations, and our teach-out strategy is nearly complete. Operational improvements made within student support operations, redesign of our core structure and content, investments in technology and new admissions in advising centers in Phoenix, are all contributing to better student engagement, and we feel confident in the long term academic potential and value proposition of both universities. In 2018, many of our priorities remain the same, as we continue to position the business for sustainable and responsible growth, driven by our focus on enhancing student retention outcomes and experiences. We will continue to enhance and grow our student support operations, and remain focused on improving our overall education quality and execution across the student lifecycle. We plan to further invest in our faculty and technology, such as intellipath and mobile applications that will help us deliver content in the most efficient and effective manner possible, and as we grow our cash position, we will continue making responsible growth investments in our universities, that should ultimately benefit our students. Thank you again for joining us today, and we will now open the call for any analyst questions.

Well again, thank you for joining us for this quarter. We appreciate your support, and we do look forward to talking with you again next quarter. Thank you.

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