Grand Canyon Education Inc (LOPE) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 2024 Grand Canyon Education earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Dan Bachus, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 2024 年第四季大峽谷教育財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人、財務長 Dan Bachus。請繼續。

Joining me on today's call is our Chairman and CEO, Brian Mueller. Please note that many of our comments today will contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Various factors could cause our actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. These factors are discussed in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. We undertake no obligation to provide updates with regard to the forward-looking statements made during this call, and we recommend that all investors review these reports thoroughly before taking a financial position in GCE.

參加今天電話會議的還有我們的董事長兼執行長 Brian Mueller。請注意，我們今天的許多評論將包含涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述。各種因素都可能導致我們的實際結果與此類聲明表達或暗示的任何未來結果有重大差異。這些因素在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中進行了討論，包括我們的 10-K 表年度報告、10-Q 表季度報告和 8-K 表當前報告。我們不承擔對本次電話會議中前瞻性陳述進行更新的義務，我們建議所有投資者在對 GCE 進行財務投資之前仔細閱讀這些報告。

And with that, I will turn over the call to Brian.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給布萊恩。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Grand Canyon Education's Fourth Quarter 2024 Conference Call. GCE had another solid quarter, producing online enrollment growth of 7.1% and hybrid growth, excluding the closed site and those in teach-out, of 14.9%. We also continue to produce strong retention rates, while at the same time, investing heavily in initiatives for our university partners. The investments GCE and its 22 partner institutions are making are based on the belief that there is a vast amount of untapped potential in today's workforce. Many recent high school graduates did not go to college this year because of exorbitant tuition rates, potentially exorbitant debt levels and difficulty managing the FAFSA website.

下午好，感謝您參加大峽谷教育 2024 年第四季電話會議。GCE 又度過了一個強勁的季度，線上入學人數增加了 7.1%，混合入學人數（不包括已關閉的學校和課外授課的學校）增加了 14.9%。我們也繼續保持強勁的保留率，同時大力投資於我們大學合作夥伴的計劃。GCE 及其 22 家合作機構所做的投資是基於這樣的信念：當今的勞動市場仍有大量未開發的潛力。由於學費過高、潛在的債務水平過高以及管理 FAFSA 網站的困難，許多應屆高中畢業生今年沒有上大學。

Many working adults who could benefit from higher education are not attending because of the lack of creative delivery models that do not take into account their life situations. Grand Canyon Education will continue to grow at our stated goals over the long run because we are addressing those challenges in ways that work for students and employers.

許多可以從高等教育中受益的在職成年人並沒有接受高等教育，因為高等教育缺乏有創意的傳授模式，沒有考慮到他們的生活狀況。從長遠來看，大峽谷教育將繼續按照我們既定的目標發展，因為我們正在採取對學生和雇主都有效的方式來應對這些挑戰。

With that, I would like to review the results of the four delivery platforms at Grand Canyon Education. First, the online campus at Grand Canyon University. New starts were up in mid-single digits in the fourth quarter of 2024 on a difficult year-over-year comp in total enrollment growth was 7.1%, which was slightly -- which slightly exceeds our long-term objectives. We anticipate starts for the first quarter to be up in the mid- to high single digits. There are many reasons for this, but I want to highlight four.

在此，我想回顧一下大峽谷教育四個交付平台的成果。首先，大峽谷大學的線上校園。2024 年第四季度，新入學人數增加了中等個位數，但同比整體入學人數增加了 7.1%，這略微超過了我們的長期目標。我們預計第一季的開工量將成長中高個位數。造成這種情況的原因有很多，但我要強調四個。

One, we have stayed focused on opportunities that exist in today's labor market. And since the beginning of the pandemic, GCU has rolled out 148 new programs, emphases and certificates across the 10 colleges. These programs are tied directly to labor market opportunities for students.

一是，我們一直關注當今勞動市場中存在的機會。自疫情開始以來，GCU 已在 10 所學院推出了 148 個新課程、重點和證書。這些項目與學生的勞動市場機會直接相關。

One of the responses of universities to declining enrollments is to reduce the number of programs they offer. Two, we continue to work with employers directly to address their workforce shortages. This effort is focused on the industries of education, health care, technology, public safety and military. In the fourth quarter, new starts from this work increased 12.5% year-over-year. Number three, the retention of students in the fourth quarter remained strong, which we believe continues because of the relevancy of the programs the students are entering and their direct tie to the students' career aspirations.

大學應對入學人數下降的措施之一是減少所提供的課程數量。二是，我們繼續直接與雇主合作，解決他們的勞動力短缺問題。這項工作主要集中在教育、醫療保健、科技、公共安全和軍事產業。第四季度，此項工作新開工量年增12.5%。第三，第四季度學生的保留率仍然很高，我們相信這種勢頭會持續下去，因為學生就讀的課程與學生的職業抱負直接相關，並且具有相關性。

Four, GCU has resisted responding to the slower growth by raising tuition significantly, which many institutions have done. Online net tuition increases since 2018 have averaged approximately 1% per year. We believe new start growth will remain in the mid- to high single-digit rates in the first quarter of 2025 and continue at that level during the rest of 2025. Second, the GCU ground campus for traditional students. As has been previously discussed, new and total traditional campus enrollments were down slightly year-over-year in the Fall of 2024 for the reasons discussed on previous calls.

第四，GCU 拒絕像其他許多院校一樣透過大幅提高學費來應對成長放緩。自 2018 年以來，線上淨學費平均每年上漲約 1%。我們認為，2025 年第一季新開工成長率將維持在中高個位數，並在 2025 年剩餘時間內繼續維持這一水準。第二，針對傳統學生的GCU地面校園。如前所述，由於上次電話會議中討論過的原因，2024 年秋季新生和傳統校園總入學人數比去年同期略有下降。

We believe GCU will reaccelerate growth on the ground campus because of its significant advantages, including the very low price point, very low average debt levels, percent of students completed in less than four years, and the relevancy of GCU's academic programs. GCU still plans to grow its traditional campus out to 50,000 students.

我們相信，GCU 將重新加速校園的成長，因為它具有顯著的優勢，包括非常低的價格、非常低的平均債務水平、在四年內完成學業的學生比例、以及 GCU 學術課程的相關性。GCU 仍計劃將其傳統校園擴大到可容納 50,000 名學生。

It is our understanding that the Department of Education continues to work on fixes to the FAFSA issues and that the initial results have been positive. We believe that this, along with a number of strategy changes to address this specific challenge for 2025-'26 that we have made will help us meet the university's new enrollment growth goals. Although the Spring intake is much less than the Fall, we did see an increase in new students starting at GCU in Spring 2025 as compared to Spring 2024. We also are ahead of last year in new student registrations for the Fall of 2025. So although it is early in the recruitment cycle, the current trends are positive.

據我們了解，教育部正在繼續努力解決 FAFSA 問題，並且初步取得了積極的成果。我們相信，這一點，加上我們為應對 2025-26 年這一特定挑戰而製定的一系列策略變化，將幫助我們實現大學新的招生成長目標。雖然春季招生人數比秋季少得多，但與 2024 年春季相比，我們確實看到 2025 年春季入讀 GCU 的新生人數有所增加。我們在 2025 年秋季新生註冊人數方面也比去年領先。因此，儘管現在還處於招募週期的早期，但目前的趨勢是正面的。

Third, Grand Canyon Education's hybrid campus had an increase in enrollment year-over-year of 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Excluding the closed sites and those that are on teach-out, enrollment increased by 14.9% year-over-year. We expect the new enrollment growth rate to be up in the low to mid-teens during Spring 2025 and the rest of 2025. There are two main reasons for this continued growth. One, almost all of our active ABSN partners have responded to the younger students interested in ABSN programs by admitting advanced standing students or are in the process of making that change.

第三，大峽谷教育混合校園第四季的入學人數年增了 9.8%。除去已關閉和正在進行教學的學校，入學人數同比增長了 14.9%。我們預計，2025 年春季及 2025 年剩餘時間的新入學成長率將達到 15% 左右。這種持續成長有兩個主要原因。首先，幾乎我們所有活躍的 ABSN 合作夥伴都已透過招收高級學生來回應對 ABSN 計畫感興趣的年輕學生，或正在進行這種改變。

Students with partially completed degrees haven't accumulated a great deal of debt and are very interested in nursing careers, but didn't have an efficient way to earn the prerequisite science coursework. GCU created the science courses and some other gen ed courses so they could be delivered online in 8 weeks. Students can access those courses from anywhere in the world. There are start opportunities almost every week. These courses have been made very affordable, are taught by experienced faculty, class sizes are low, and there's a tremendous amount of academic support, including an artificial intelligence project which provides students 24/7 access to tutoring.

部分完成學位的學生沒有累積很多債務並且對護理職業非常感興趣，但沒有有效的方法來完成先修科學課程。GCU 創建了科學課程和一些其他通識教育課程，以便可以在 8 週內在線授課。學生可以從世界任何地方訪問這些課程。幾乎每週都有開始的機會。這些課程價格非常實惠，由經驗豐富的教師授課，班級規模較小，並提供大量的學術支持，包括一個可為學生提供全天候輔導的人工智慧計畫。

Since implementing these courses, we have already enrolled approximately 12,412 students. We have a waterfall report that allows us to know how students are progressing through their prerequisite courses and when they will be eligible to start at one of our ABSN sites. The success rate of students who successfully entered the ABSN programs is in the high 80s, and the first-time pass rate on the NCLEX exam is approximately 90%. We now have an extremely efficient way to get students academically eligible and prepared to enter the program. These positive results, we anticipate, will continue.

自從實施這些課程以來，我們已經招收了約 12,412 名學生。我們有一份瀑布報告，可以讓我們了解學生的先修課程進度，以及他們何時有資格在我們的 ABSN 站點之一開始學習。成功進入 ABSN 課程的學生的成功率高達 80%，NCLEX 考試的首次通過率約為 90%。我們現在有一種極其有效的方法來確保學生的學業合格並做好進入該計畫的準備。我們預計這些正面成果將會持續下去。

There has never been greater interest among potential students for entering the health care professions and specifically, nursing. Because of the low unemployment rate, the interest has shifted to these younger students who haven't accumulated a great deal of debt, completing the Bachelor's degree in another area and are currently underemployed. Nearly all our partners have responded positively to the change needed to serve the advanced standing students. Our goal is still to have 80 locations with our partners, with 40 of those locations being GCU locations.

潛在學生對進入醫療保健行業，特別是護理行業的興趣從未如此濃厚。由於失業率低，人們的興趣轉向了這些沒有累積大量債務、在其他領域完成學士學位且目前就業不足的年輕學生。幾乎所有的合作夥伴都對為高級學生服務所需的改變做出了積極的回應。我們的目標仍然是與合作夥伴一起開設 80 家店，其中 40 家是 GCU 門市。

Fourth, the Center for Workforce Development at Grand Canyon University. In the 2022-'23 school year, we started 80 students in GCU's electricians pre-apprenticeship Program in partnership with companies that are experiencing labor shortages in that area and are excited about hiring GCU's graduates. The program consists of four for credit courses and runs one semester. 74 students successfully completed the program in the first year. This past school year, we started 233 students in the program.

第四，大峽谷大學勞動力發展中心。在 2022-'23 學年，我們將與該地區勞動力短缺且熱衷於聘用 GCU 畢業生的公司合作，開始招募 80 名學生參加 GCU 電工學徒前培訓計劃。該課程由四門學分課程組成，為期一學期。第一年共有 74 名學生成功完成了該計劃。上個學年，我們已招收了 233 名學生參加該計劃。

123 students completed this program in the Fall, and 82 in the Spring of 2024. GCU had 164 students enrolled in this program in the Fall of 2024, including 23 in Austin, Texas.

2024 年秋季有 123 名學生完成了課程，春季有 82 名學生完成了課程。2024 年秋季，GCU 有 164 名學生參加該項目，其中 23 名來自德克薩斯州奧斯汀。

A year ago, GCU also started 19 students in the manufacturing certificate program and had 23 students in that program this Fall. GCU was running a small parts manufacturing business on campus that is doing work for some of the major companies in Arizona. These students are attending school for 20 hours a week and then work in the facility as a paid employee for 20 hours. At the end of the semester, the receive a manufacturing certificate and become eligible for employment in Arizona's fast-growing manufacturing industry.

一年前，GCU 也開始招收 19 名學生參加製造業證書課程，今年秋季已有 23 名學生參加。GCU 在校園內經營一家小型零件製造公司，為亞利桑那州的一些大公司提供產品。這些學生每週上課 20 小時，然後作為有薪員工在學校工作 20 小時。學期末，他們將獲得製造業證書並有資格在亞利桑那州快速發展的製造業就業。

GCU's growing engineering college also has students assisting with this project. Once this concept has been successfully proved out, we expect to work with GCU to scale this program and then add others. I started out talking about the relevant programs and creative delivery models that GCE has implemented with its 22 partner institutions. In the 6-plus years since GCE has become a service provider has helped these partners accomplish the following: in that time, GCE has helped Grand Canyon University graduate 183,632 students; 50,016 in education, including 24,000 first-time teachers, at a time when teacher shortages have created a national crisis; 49,320 in nursing and health care professions, including 2,834 pre-licensure nurses at a time when there is a huge shortage of nurses; 37,119 in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, including thousands in counseling and social work, where there are also huge shortages.

GCU 正在不斷發展的工程學院也有學生協助該計畫。一旦這一概念得到成功驗證，我們希望與 GCU 合作擴大該計劃的規模並添加其他項目。我首先介紹了GCE與其22個合作機構實施的相關計畫和創新交付模式。GCE 成為服務提供者以來的 6 年多時間裡幫助這些合作夥伴實現了以下目標：在此期間，GCE 幫助大峽谷大學畢業了 183,632 名學生； 50,016 名教師從事教育工作，其中包括 24,000 名首次任教的教師，而當時正值教師短缺引發全國危機；護理和醫療保健專業新增護士數量為 49,320 人，其中包括 2,834 名未取得執照的護士，而目前護士短缺現象十分嚴重；人文與社會科學學院有 37,119 名教職員工，其中諮詢和社會工作專業的教職員工數千人，該專業的師資短缺現像也十分嚴重。

The College of Business is one of the largest business schools in America and has produced 31,986 graduates. The College of Science, Engineering and Technology has grown by 216% and provided 4,575 graduates. The Doctoral College, Honors College and College of Theology also continued to grow. In addition, GCE has helped its other partner institutions graduates 17,644 pre-licensure nurses and occupational therapist assistants. The numbers that I have just cited have all happened in the past 6-plus years since GCU-GCE transaction and since GCE has become an education services provider.

商學院是美國最大的商學院之一，已培養了 31,986 名畢業生。科學、工程和技術學院的學生數量增加了 216%，共培養了 4,575 名畢業生。博士學院、榮譽學院和神學院也不斷發展。此外，GCE 還幫助其他合作機構畢業了 17,644 名執照前護理師和職業治療助理。我剛才引用的數字都是 GCU-GCE 交易以來以及 GCE 成為教育服務提供者以來的六年多時間裡發生的。

Service revenue was $292.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of $143 million or 5.1% as compared to the $278.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase year-over-year in service revenue was primarily due to an increase in GCU enrollments of 5%, an increase in university partner enrollments at our off-campus classroom and laboratory sites of 9.8% and an increase in revenue per student year-over-year. Operating income and operating margin for the three months ended December 31, 2024, was $100 million and 34.2%, respectively.

2024 年第四季的服務收入為 2.926 億美元，較 2023 年第四季的 2.783 億美元增加 1.43 億美元或 5.1%。服務收入年增主要由於 GCU 入學人數增加 5%，校外教室和實驗室的大學合作夥伴入學人數增加 9.8%，以及每位學生的收入同比增長。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的營業收入和營業利潤率分別為 1 億美元和 34.2%。

As Dan will discuss in more detail in a moment, we booked $1.9 million in the impairment and other charges in the fourth quarter. Excluding those charges, operating income for the three months ended December 31, 2024, was $101.9 million, an increase of $4.1 million as compared to $97.8 million for the same period in 2023. The operating margin for the three months ended December 31, 2024, excluding those charges, was 34.8% as compared to 35.1% for the three months ended December 31, 2023. Net income increased 1.4% to $81.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to $80.7 million for the same period in 2023.

正如丹稍後將詳細討論的那樣，我們在第四季度計入了 190 萬美元的減值和其他費用。除這些費用外，截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的營業收入為 1.019 億美元，較 2023 年同期的 9,780 萬美元增加 410 萬美元。不包括這些費用，截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的營業利潤率為 34.8%，而截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的營業利潤率為 35.1%。2024 年第四季淨收入較 2023 年同期的 8,070 萬美元成長 1.4% 至 8,190 萬美元。

GAAP diluted income per share for the three months ended December 31, 2024, was $2.84. As adjusted, non-GAAP diluted income per share for the three months ended December 31, 2023, is $2.95, which is $0.02 above consensus estimates. With that, I would like to turn it over to Dan Bachus, our CFO, to give a little more color on our 2024 fourth quarter, talk about changes in the income statement, balance sheet and other items as well as to discuss the 2025 guidance.

截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的 GAAP 稀釋每股收益為 2.84 美元。經過調整後，截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的非 GAAP 攤薄每股收益為 2.95 美元，高出普遍預期 0.02 美元。接下來，我想將話題轉交給我們的財務長 Dan Bachus，讓他進一步介紹我們 2024 年第四季的情況，談談損益表、資產負債表和其他項目的變化，並討論 2025 年的指引。

Thanks, Brian. Included in our Form 8-K filed with the SEC, we have included non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted income per share for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. The non-GAAP amounts exclude the tax-affected amount of the amortization of intangible assets of $2.1 million in the fourth quarters of both 2024 and 2023, the tax-affected amount of impairment and other of $1.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024, and the tax-affected amount of the losses on fixed asset disposals of $0.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023. We believe the non-GAAP financial information allows investors to develop a more meaningful understanding of the company's performance over time. As adjusted, non-GAAP diluted income per share for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 is $2.95 and $2.77, respectively.

謝謝，布萊恩。在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的 8-K 表中，我們包含了截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日和 2023 年 12 月 31 日三個月的非 GAAP 淨收入和非 GAAP 稀釋每股盈餘。非 GAAP 金額不包括 2024 年和 2023 年第四季度 210 萬美元無形資產攤銷的稅收影響金額、截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的三個月 190 萬美元減值及其他的稅收影響金額，以及截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的 20 萬美元的總資產處置 20 萬美元的固定資產。我們相信非公認會計準則財務資訊可以讓投資人更深入了解公司長期以來的表現。經過調整後，截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日和 2023 年 12 月 31 日的三個月的非 GAAP 稀釋每股收益分別為 2.95 美元和 2.77 美元。

Service revenue was higher than our expectations in the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily due to higher-than-expected revenue per student and slightly higher-than-expected enrollments. Revenue per student continued to grow on a year-over-year basis, primarily due to the growth in hybrid ABSN students as these students generate a significantly higher revenue per student than we earn on the other students, as these agreements generally provide us with a higher revenue share percentage, the partners have higher tuition rates and the majority of their students take more credits on average per semester as they are in accelerated programs.

2024 年第四季的服務收入高於我們的預期，主要原因是每位學生的收入高於預期，入學人數略高於預期。每位學生的收入繼續同比增長，主要由於混合 ABSN 學生的增長，因為這些學生產生的每名學生的收入明顯高於我們從其他學生身上獲得的收入，因為這些協議通常為我們提供更高的收入分成百分比，合作夥伴的學費率更高，並且他們的大多數學生由於參加加速課程，平均每學期修更多的學分。

We also recognized slightly higher-than-expected revenue due to one hybrid partner electing to convert its contract from a revenue share to a cost-plus agreement. As a result, we will see minimal revenue from this partner in the future. As was expected, revenue per student was negatively impacted in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to the earlier start of the Fall semester.

由於一家混合合作夥伴選擇將其合約從收入分成轉換為成本加成協議，我們也確認了略高於預期的收入。因此，未來我們從該合作夥伴獲得的收入將非常有限。正如預期的那樣，由於秋季學期開始得較早，2024 年第四季的每位學生收入受到負面影響。

The Fall semester started two days earlier in 2024 than in 2023, which had the effect of shifting $2.2 million in service revenue from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2024. In addition, contract modifications for some of our university partners in which the revenue share percentage was reduced in exchange for us no longer reimbursing the partner for certain faculty costs had the effect of reducing revenue per share, as did the slight decline in ground traditional enrollment and continued mix shift to online programs that have lower net tuition rates.

2024 年秋季學期開始時間比 2023 年早兩天，這導致 220 萬美元的服務收入從 2024 年第四季轉移到 2024 年第三季。此外，我們與一些大學合作夥伴的合約修改，其中收入分成百分比降低，以換取我們不再向合作夥伴償還某些教職員工費用，這導致每股收入減少，傳統地面入學人數略有下降，而課程組合繼續轉向淨學費較低的線上課程。

The fourth quarter operating margin was negatively impacted on a year-over-year basis due to the timing of the Fall semester start, contract modifications and impairment and other charges of $1.9 million. The impairment and other charges includes the write-off of an internally used software project that we had been attempting to develop for our other university partners that has been terminated and costs related to off-campus classroom and laboratory sites that have been closed. Our operating margin in the fourth quarter of 2024 was slightly lower than our expectations, primarily due to additional spend for 2025 partners' initiatives and higher-than-expected benefit costs.

由於秋季學期開始的時間、合約修改和減值以及其他 190 萬美元的費用，第四季度的營業利潤率與去年同期相比受到負面影響。減損和其他費用包括註銷我們一直試圖為其他大學合作夥伴開發的內部使用的軟體項目，該項目已被終止，以及與已關閉的校外教室和實驗室場地相關的費用。我們 2024 年第四季的營業利潤率略低於我們的預期，主要是由於 2025 年合作夥伴計劃的額外支出以及高於預期的福利成本。

Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 21.2% compared to 19.9% for the fourth quarter of 2023 and our guidance of 21.2%. The effective tax rate increased year-over-year due to higher state income taxes. We anticipate this trend of higher state income taxes will continue. We repurchased 416,497 shares of our common stock in the fourth quarter of 2024 at a cost of approximately $64.8 million, and another 226,258 shares were repurchased since December 31, 2024. We announced today that on January 29, 2025, the company's Board of Directors approved a $200 million increase under its existing stock repurchase program.

我們 2024 年第四季的有效稅率為 21.2%，而 2023 年第四季的有效稅率為 19.9%，我們的預期稅率為 21.2%。由於州所得稅增加，有效稅率年增。我們預計州所得稅上漲的趨勢將會持續下去。我們在 2024 年第四季回購了 416,497 股普通股，成本約為 6,480 萬美元，自 2024 年 12 月 31 日以來又回購了 226,258 股。我們今天宣布，2025 年 1 月 29 日，公司董事會批准根據現有股票回購計畫增加 2 億美元。

We have $260.7 million remaining as of today, which includes the increase in January 2025 under our share repurchase authorization. The Board and the company intend to continue using a significant portion of its cash flows from operations to repurchase its shares, and we anticipate daily purchases to continue during 2025.

截至今天，我們剩餘 2.607 億美元，其中包括 2025 年 1 月根據股票回購授權增加的金額。董事會和公司打算繼續使用大部分經營現金流來回購股票，我們預計 2025 年將繼續進行日常購買。

Turning to the balance sheet and cash flows. Total unrestricted cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2024, were $324.6 million. GCE CapEx in the fourth quarter and full year 2024, including CapEx for new off-campus classroom and laboratory sites, was approximately $9.7 million or 3.3% of service revenue and $37.2 million or 3.6% of service revenue, respectively. We anticipate CapEx for 2025 will remain comparable with the prior year at between $30 million and $40 million.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，無限制現金及現金等價物總額為 3.246 億美元。普通中等教育證書2024 年第四季和全年的資本支出（包括新的校外教室和實驗室場地的資本支出）分別約為 970 萬美元（佔服務收入的 3.3%）和 3,720 萬美元（佔服務收入的 3.6%）。我們預計 2025 年的資本支出將與前一年持平，介於 3,000 萬美元至 4,000 萬美元之間。

Last, I would like to provide color on the guidance we have provided in our 8-K filed today. As a reminder, the guidance that we have provided in the outlook section of our 8-K filed today as GAAP net income and diluted income per share with the components to adjust the GAAP amounts to non-GAAP as adjusted net income and non-GAAP as adjusted diluted income per share. Consistent with prior years, we have provided ranges for revenue, operating margin and earnings per share for each of the four quarters of 2025. We do this because our financial results are seasonal. As you have probably noticed, the midpoint of the guidance is slightly below consensus estimates.

最後，我想詳細說明我們今天在 8-K 文件中提供的指導。提醒一下，我們在今天提交的 8-K 報告的展望部分中提供的指引為 GAAP 淨收入和每股攤薄收益，其中調整 GAAP 的部分為非 GAAP 調整後的淨收入，非 GAAP 調整後的每股攤薄收益。與往年一致，我們提供了 2025 年四個季度的收入、營業利潤率和每股盈餘範圍。我們這樣做是因為我們的財務結果具有季節性。您可能已經注意到，該指引的中點略低於普遍預期。

This is not due to any concern about current trends. As Brian mentioned, the current trends for all of our pillars are very positive. The high end of estimates would result in high single-digit revenue growth and an increase in full year margins, which is slightly better than our previously provided commentary on our expectations for 2025.

這並不是因為對當前趨勢有任何擔憂。正如 Brian 所提到的，我們所有支柱的當前趨勢都非常積極。預計高端將導致高個位數收入成長和全年利潤率增加，這比我們之前對 2025 年預期的評論略好一些。

The low end of guidance assumes slightly lower-than-expected enrollments in each of our pillars, primarily in the back half of the year where our current visibility is more limited, and thus, the midpoint takes those assumptions into account. We believe continuing to provide this range of outcomes is prudent. We anticipate that both new and total online enrollments will be up year-over-year in the mid- to high single digits in each quarter during 2025. We do anticipate continuing to experience a decline in the growth rate of reentries, students returning to school after break due to 2024 retention rates and an increase year-over-year in graduates, both of which will put pressure on the total enrollment growth rate.

指導的低端假設我們每個支柱的入學人數略低於預期，主要是在下半年，目前的可見度更加有限，因此，中點考慮到了這些假設。我們認為繼續提供這一系列結果是明智之舉。我們預計，2025 年每季的線上新入學人數和總入學人數都將比去年同期成長中高個位數。我們確實預計重返校園的人數增長率將繼續下降，由於 2024 年的保留率，假期後重返學校的學生以及畢業生人數的同比增長，這兩者都將對總入學人數增長率造成壓力。

The high end of guidance assumes total online enrollment will end 2025 up in the high single digits year-over-year, which would be an acceleration in total online enrollments, whereas the low end assumes a mid-single-digit year-over-year growth rate. And thus, the midpoint of our range assumes a year-over-year growth rate that is near the high end of our stated long-term objectives. The revenue range assumes that the GCU ground enrollment will be 23,100 in the Spring, will range from 7,800 to 8,200 in the Summer and be between 24,500 and 26,100 in the fall.

該指導意見的高端假設是，到 2025 年，線上入學總數將比上年增長高個位數，這將加速線上入學總數的增長，而低端假設增長率為中等個位數。因此，我們範圍的中點假設同比增長率接近我們所述的長期目標的高端。收入範圍假設 GCU 地面入學人數在春季將達到 23,100 人，在夏季將達到 7,800 至 8,200 人，在秋季將達到 24,500 至 26,100 人。

The high end of the range assumes a mid-teens new start year-over-year growth rate for the ground campus, while the low end of the range assumes flat new start growth and a slight decline in total ground enrollment due to the continuing increase in the number of graduates year-over-year as a significant number of ground traditional students continue to graduate in under four years. Thus, the midpoint assumes a high single-digit increase in new ground enrollments.

該範圍的高端假設地面校園的新生入學人數同比增長率為十幾歲中段，而該範圍的低端假設新生入學人數增長持平，並且由於大量地面傳統學生繼續在四年內畢業，導致畢業生人數逐年增加，因此地面總入學人數略有下降。因此，中點假設新地面入學人數將出現高個位數的成長。

The reported ground number continues to include GCU hybrid, which continues to grow and professional study students, which continues to strengthen. As Brian discussed earlier, the new student and total enrollment growth rate in the hybrid pillar is predicted to grow on a year-over-year basis in the low to mid-teens during each of the four quarters of 2025. As has been previously discussed, the hybrid growth rate is being impacted by the fact that we have 10 locations that are at or near capacity, and thus, we will have little to no growth year-over-year in total enrollments at those locations. We are hopeful that a lot of these locations will get local regulatory approval to grow in the future as they currently have waitlists.

報告顯示，GCU 混合型學生數量持續成長，而專業學習學生數量也持續增強。正如 Brian 先前所討論的，預計 2025 年四個季度中，混合支柱的新生和總入學人數成長率將年增 15% 至 16%。正如之前所討論的，混合成長率受到這樣一個事實的影響：我們有 10 個地點的招生人數已達到或接近容量上限，因此，這些地點的總入學人數同比將幾乎沒有增長。我們希望，其中許多門市能夠獲得當地監管部門的批准，以便在未來擴大規模，因為它們目前還有等候名單。

We also continue to be negatively impacted by the fact that a couple of partners are still not accepting students without completed bachelor's degrees. But even with these headwinds, the growth of this pillar should remain strong. As was discussed on last quarter's earnings call, revenue is being negatively impacted in 2025 as compared to 2024, as leap year increased revenue in 2024 by an estimated $1.5 million, and we estimate that the contract modifications and site closings further lower revenue by $8.9 million in comparison to 2024. This results in a slight expected decrease in revenue per student year-over-year. Excluding these impacts, we anticipate a slight increase in revenue per student year-over-year, primarily due to the hybrid pillar growing at a faster rate than online or ground.

我們也繼續受到一些合作夥伴仍然不接受未完成學士學位的學生這一事實的負面影響。但即使面臨這些阻力，這一支柱仍將保持強勁成長。正如上個季度的財報電話會議上所討論的那樣，與 2024 年相比，2025 年的收入受到了負面影響，因為閏年估計會使 2024 年的收入增加 150 萬美元，而且我們估計，與 2024 年相比，合約修改和站點關閉將進一步降低收入 890 萬美元。預計這會導致每位學生的收入比去年同期略有下降。除掉這些影響外，我們預計每位學生的收入將比去年同期略有增加，這主要是由於混合支柱的成長速度快於線上或地面教育。

Online revenue per student will be flat to slightly down year-over-year due to the mix shift as programs have slightly lower net tuition rates. Revenue per student is also negatively impacted in the first half of the year by the slight year-over-year decrease in ground traditional students.

由於課程組合變化導致課程淨學費略有降低，每位學生的線上收入將與去年同期持平或略有下降。由於上半年傳統地面學生人數較去年同期略有下降，每位學生的收入也受到負面影響。

On the expense side, as you recall, after a pause on certain investments, primarily in headcount, in the first nine months of 2024. We ramped up hiring and other spend in the fourth quarter of 2024 and anticipate this continued investment in the first half of 2025 to meet the growth goals of our partners. The additional hiring will have the biggest impact on counseling services and support, but we also see increases in technology and academic service costs.

在費用方面，您還記得，在 2024 年前 9 個月，某些投資（主要是員工人數投資）暫停之後。我們在 2024 年第四季增加了招募和其他支出，並預計在 2025 年上半年繼續投資，以滿足合作夥伴的成長目標。額外的招聘將對諮詢服務和支援產生最大影響，但我們也看到技術和學術服務成本的增加。

As I have discussed previously, the online programs, primarily those that lead to licensure, in which GCU is growing at an accelerated rate either cost us more to service than the traditional online programs or at lower net tuition rates, which is putting some pressure on our margins. We also continue to absorb significant increases in both benefit cost and technology services.

正如我之前所討論過的，線上課程（主要是那些可獲得執照的課程）在 GCU 中以加速的速度增長，要么服務成本高於傳統在線課程，要么淨學費較低，這給我們的利潤帶來了一些壓力。我們也持續吸收福利成本和技術服務的大幅成長。

As it relates to the hybrid pillar, we will incur additional costs for the new hybrid locations that have opened in the last six months or will open in 2024 and '25, but we are experiencing increased site level profitability due to the increasing enrollments. Last, we anticipate an increase in legal fees again in 2025 over 2024 as we have a couple of lawsuits filed in prior years that are expected to go into the discovery phase and/or to trial during 2025. Estimated litigation fees and regulatory costs are included in our operating income guidance, but are excluded in our non-GAAP measure adjusted EBITDA.

就混合支柱而言，我們將為過去六個月內開業或將於 2024 年和 2025 年開業的新混合地點承擔額外成本，但由於入學人數的增加，我們的站點級盈利能力正在提高。最後，我們預計 2025 年的法律費用將比 2024 年再次增加，因為我們在前幾年提起了幾起訴訟，預計將在 2025 年進入調查階段和/或審判階段。估計的訴訟費用和監管成本包含在我們的營業收入指引中，但不包括在我們的非公認會計準則衡量的調整後 EBITDA 中。

So to summarize, we should see a slight decline in margins in the first half of 2025 due to the investments and other items noted, but are optimistic that margins will expand in the second half, especially if revenue is in the top half of our revenue range due to leverage in our business model and that full year margins will be up year-over-year. We are estimating that interest income will decline year-over-year in 2025 as we are assuming declining cash balances due to more aggressive stock buybacks and a declining interest rate environment.

總而言之，由於投資和其他事項，我們應該會看到 2025 年上半年的利潤率略有下降，但我們樂觀地認為下半年的利潤率將會擴大，特別是如果收入由於我們業務模式中的槓桿作用而處於我們收入範圍的上半部分，並且全年利潤率將同比增長。我們估計，2025 年的利息收入將同比下降，因為我們假設由於更積極的股票回購和利率下降導致現金餘額下降。

We believe the effective tax rate for the fourth quarter -- the four quarters of 2025 will be 22.2%, 24.9%, 24.9% and 24.1%, with a full year tax rate of 23.8%, which is an increase over our 2024 effective tax rate. The effective tax rate continues to rise due to higher state taxes as we continue to add new sites in states outside of Arizona, which have higher state tax rates and other factors. These estimates do not assume a contribution in lieu of state income taxes. But if one is made, that will increase G&A expense in the third quarter and decrease the effective tax rate in the second half of the year.

我們認為 2025 年第四季的有效稅率將分別為 22.2%、24.9%、24.9% 和 24.1%，全年稅率為 23.8%，比我們 2024 年的有效稅率增加。由於我們繼續在亞利桑那州以外的州增加新站點，而這些州的州稅率較高，並且還有其他因素，導致州稅上調，有效稅率也隨之上升。這些估計沒有假設代替州所得稅的貢獻。但如果做出這個決定，將會增加第三季的一般行政費用，並降低下半年的實際稅率。

Our weighted average shares guidance assumes increased spend to buy back shares, although given the rise in the stock price, we anticipate purchasing a similar number of shares in 2025 as in 2024. The Board continues to authorize the repurchase of shares as it believes the stock remains undervalued based on the metrics that you used to evaluate including the ratio of enterprise value to adjusted EBITDA and the free cash flow yield rather than multiples of other education companies, as although we can be viewed as being in the same sector, there are a few, if any, appropriate comps.

我們的加權平均股數指引假設回購股票的支出將增加，但考慮到股價上漲，我們預期 2025 年購買的股票數量將與 2024 年相似。董事會繼續授權回購股票，因為董事會認為，根據您用來評估的指標（包括企業價值與調整後 EBITDA 的比率和自由現金流收益率，而不是其他教育公司的倍數），該股票仍然被低估，因為儘管我們可以被視為處於同一行業，但即使有，也存在一些合適的可比對象。

I will now turn the call over to the moderator so that we can answer questions.

現在我將把電話轉給主持人，以便我們回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Jeff Mueller, Baird.

（操作員指示）傑夫·穆勒，貝爾德。

You commented on being ahead of last year on new student registrations for the full run campus intake. Can you just broaden out that discussion since you have some pretty lofty growth goals and it's against kind of a depressed level? Just -- anything else you can say on demand inquiries, discovery GCU visits, just conversion initiatives to give us confidence in those growth goals.

您評論說，今年全校新生註冊人數比去年有所增加。由於您有一些相當高的成長目標，並且處於一種低迷的水平，您能否擴大討論範圍？只是——您還可以說關於需求查詢、發現 GCU 訪問、只是轉換舉措的任何其他內容，這些都會讓我們對這些增長目標充滿信心。

Yes. Great question. A couple of things. One, we did make an adjustment to our Discover GCU process. We were pretty open with that last year, and the number of Discover GCU students went up significantly.

是的。好問題。有幾件事。首先，我們確實對 Discover GCU 流程進行了調整。去年我們對此非常開放，Discover GCU 學生的數量顯著增加。

We really tightened that up. We are asking students to get their transcript to us. We want those transcripts evaluated. And then we want to have a one-on-one meeting with them and their parents via Zoom before we have them visit campus. And so the number of Discover GCU business as a result is down, but the conversion rate is up.

我們確實加強了這一點。我們要求學生將他們的成績單交給我們。我們希望對這些成績單進行評估。然後，我們想在他們參觀校園之前透過 Zoom 與他們和他們的父母進行一對一的會面。因此，Discover GCU 業務數量下降了，但轉換率上升了。

And so our registrations are fairly significantly ahead of where they were at the same time last year. The second thing that's really important is that we have some workaround strategies with regards to students that are Pell-eligible or we think will be Pell-eligible. And those workaround strategies, we think, are going really well. We're able to provide students with information that's important to them. And as a result, they're making decisions to register at the university, which includes a down payment.

因此，我們的註冊量比去年同期大幅增加。第二件非常重要的事情是，我們針對符合佩爾助學金申請資格或我們認為將符合佩爾助學金申請資格的學生製定了一些變通策略。我們認為，這些解決方法策略確實進展順利。我們能夠提供學生對他們來說很重要的資訊。因此，他們決定在這所大學註冊，並支付首付。

And then also register for a room if they're out-of-state students.

如果他們是外州學生，還需註冊一個房間。

And so we set a very aggressive goal, which was 15% increase over new students last year. But early indications are that that's going very well. And so we -- obviously, it's early, and we got to keep working at this. But we -- at this point, we feel very good about it.

因此我們設定了一個非常正面的目標，比去年的新生人數增加15％。但早期跡象顯示一切進展順利。因此，顯然現在還為時過早，我們必須繼續努力。但我們—目前為止，我們對此感覺非常好。

And then you gave us some metrics on kind of ABSN or hybrid academic outcomes. Was that for all ABSN students? Or was that specific to the advanced standing students? Or can you comment on the economic outcomes you're seeing for the advanced standing students or your partners are seeing, I guess, relative to the heritage career change or degree model?

然後您給了我們一些關於 ABSN 或混合學術成果的指標。這是針對所有 ABSN 學生的嗎？還是這只針對高級學生？或者您能否評論一下您所看到的高級學生或您的合作夥伴所看到的相對於傳統職業變化或學位模式的經濟成果？

No, that's for all students. That's for all ABSN students. And that's -- we are so excited about where this thing is now going for a number of reasons. Number one, we've identified the type of student who can best benefit from becoming a nurse. And it's that student who has earned some college credit, does not have a completed degree, hasn't gone into a serious amount of debt.

不，這適用於所有學生。這適用於所有 ABSN 學生。這就是——出於多種原因，我們對這件事的進展感到非常興奮。首先，我們已經確定了哪一類型的學生最適合成為護理師。而這個學生已經獲得了一些大學學分，但尚未完成學位，也沒有背負太多債務。

The whole concept of going after students that were near the completion of their program had already incurred a lot of debt and then encouraged them to take on more debt to do prerequisite courses and then eventually the ABSN program just didn't make any sense.

整個追逐即將完成課程的學生的理念已經產生了大量的債務，然後鼓勵他們承擔更多的債務來完成先修課程，最終 ABSN 計劃變得毫無意義。

We've identified the right kind of student now for the program that we're offering. The second thing we did was we had to put in place the science courses in a way that students could access them and complete them at high rates. And that thing has just exploded. So we've got students that are 30 or 40 college credits may be into their degree. They haven't incurred a lot of debt, but they've shown that they can do college course work.

我們現在已經為我們所提供的課程找到了合適的學生。我們做的第二件事是，我們必須以學生可以接觸到並以高完成率的方式開設科學課程。那東西剛剛爆炸了。因此，我們的學生可能需要修讀 3​​0 或 40 個大學學分才能獲得學位。他們沒有背負太多債務，卻證明自己可以完成大學課程。

They're now converting to taking these online courses, which we priced very low, so that they wouldn't have to take on debt to take them. And they're passing them at an 80% rate with a grade of B or better, which allows them then to use those credits to get into our ABSN program.

他們現在轉而參加這些線上課程，我們的收費非常低，這樣他們就不必為了參加課程而背負債務。他們的考試通過率為 80%，成績為 B 級或更高，這使得他們可以使用這些學分進入我們的 ABSN 計劃。

Once we get students to the door of our ABSN program, whether it's through GCU or whether it's through one of our other partners, our success rate is 88% or 89%. And then our first-time pass rate on the NCLEX examination is about 90%. And so the sky is the limit now as far as where we're going with this thing. We anticipate 80 locations, and we anticipate at least 300 nursing students per location, which would bring the total to 24,000. Today, we're a little over 6,000. And so the fact that there's this huge nursing shortage and the fact that we've figured out a scalable way to produce these with very high-quality outcomes is really exciting.

一旦我們讓學生進入我們的 ABSN 項目，無論是透過 GCU 還是透過我們的其他合作夥伴，我們的成功率都是 88% 或 89%。我們 NCLEX 考試的首次通過率約為 90%。所以就我們在這方面所取得的進展而言，現在天空才是極限。我們預計將有 80 個地點，每個地點至少有 300 名護理學生，總數將達到 24,000 名。如今，我們的人數已超過 6,000 人。事實上，護士短缺現象嚴重，我們已經找到了一種可擴展的方法來實現高品質的護理，這確實令人興奮。

Excellent. And then just one for you, Dan. If you -- what's the -- what are your current thoughts on the ongoing margin target financial model? Like if you exit 2025 at the targeted enrollment and revenue growth rates, would you expect that you're back to consistent margin expansion from there? Or do we need to consider the hybrid, I guess, mix shift?

出色的。接下來只給你一個，丹。如果您 - 那麼 - 您目前對持續的保證金目標財務模型有何看法？例如，如果您在 2025 年達到目標招生人數和收入成長率，您是否預計從那時起利潤率會持續擴大？或者我們需要考慮混合，我想，混合轉變？

Yes. I think all of the above. I think that you always need to focus on the hybrid mix shift for that part of our business. It will never have the margins that the GCU contract will have. But we believe that the long-term margins could be 20%.

是的。我認為以上皆是。我認為您始終需要專注於我們業務這一部分的混合轉變。它永遠不會獲得像 GCU 合約那樣的利潤。但我們相信長期利潤率可能達到20%。

And again, we don't do segment reporting. We don't look at financials that way. But to give you kind of a sense of how we think about it. But I think that you have to factor that in. On the GC contract, I think we're -- there's -- as I mentioned earlier, there's a little bit of pressure on margins in the first half of the year because of the ground traditional campus of GCU being down slightly.

再說一次，我們不做分部報告。我們不會以那種方式看待財務狀況。但讓您大概了解一下我們是如何看待這個問題的。但我認為你必須考慮到這一點。關於 GC 合同，我認為我們 - 正如我之前提到的，由於 GCU 的傳統校園面積略有下降，今年上半年的利潤率會面臨一些壓力。

If we can get back to growth, consistent growth for the GCU contract -- I'm sorry, for the GC ground traditional campus, we think we'll see continued slight margin expansion on the GCU contract like we historically had.

如果我們能夠恢復成長，GCU 合約的持續成長 - 對不起，對於 GC 地面傳統校園，我們認為我們將看到 GCU 合約的利潤率繼續小幅擴大，就像我們歷史上一樣。

Jeff Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

傑夫·西爾伯（Jeff Silber），BMO 資本市場。

[Dave], you mentioned the GCU contract. And if I remember correctly, the master services agreement with GCU expires in July. Can we talk about what's going on in terms of re-upping that? And any color would be great.

[Dave]，你提到了 GCU 合約。如果我沒記錯的話，與 GCU 的主服務協議將於 7 月到期。我們可以討論一下重新進行這件事的情況嗎？任何顏色都可以。

It doesn't expire in July. There was an early out that begins in July which the university has not exercised. So it continues. It's a 15-year contract. We're 6.5 years or so into that.

它不會在七月到期。從 7 月開始，學校就已提前安排了休假，但尚未執行。事情就這樣繼續下去。這是一份為期15年的合約。我們已經從事這個行業 6.5 年了。

So the expectation is for it to continue to go. There has been some conversation between GC and GCU about extending the contract early given that it seems to be working out really well for both parties. So that could be something that comes, but we still have a number of years left under the contract.

因此我們期望這種情況能持續下去。鑑於此舉似乎對雙方都非常有利，GC 和 GCU 之間已經就提前延長合約進行了一些談判。這可能是會發生的事，但我們的合約仍然還有幾年的時間。

All right. My mistake. I really appreciate you clarifying that. Maybe I can switch over to discussing the hybrid program. Can you remind us how many locations you have now with the ramp-up is? I know you've got a goal for 80, but I'm just curious where the ramp-up is going to be to get there.

好的。我的錯誤。我非常感謝您澄清這一點。也許我可以轉而討論混合程序。您能否提醒我們一下，現在您有多少個營業地點？我知道你的目標是 80，但我只是好奇要達到這個目標需要付出多少努力。

Yes. We have 45 sites open now. And the goal is to get to 80, and we're probably going to be opening 6 to 8 per year. And so you can do the math in terms of how long it will take us to get to 80. but things are going well.

是的。我們目前有 45 個站點開放。我們的目標是達到 80 家，並且每年可能開設 6 到 8 家。所以你可以計算一下我們要花多久時間才能達到 80 歲。

Okay. Great. And then you had mentioned some of the headwinds that the programs are facing. Is there anything you can do from your end to mitigate those headwinds?

好的。偉大的。然後您提到了這些項目面臨的一些阻力。您可以做些什麼來緩解這些不利因素？

Well, that -- I mean it's a regulatory thing. So we just continue to produce good outcomes through our partners, and the hope is that they will eventually allow us to increase above the current capacity constraints they have. An example of that, a recent example, and we're very hopeful is the West Phoenix location for GCU grew to that maximum 300 students very, very quickly.

嗯，那——我的意思是這是一個監管問題。因此，我們只是繼續透過我們的合作夥伴創造良好的成果，並希望他們最終能夠讓我們超越他們目前的能力限制。舉個最近的例子，我們非常希望的是 GCU 西鳳凰城分校能夠非常非常快速地發展到最多 300 名學生。

And they are currently having conversations with the state of Arizona about going above that 300 so for that location. And so you produce good outcomes. I think the state is -- and you can commit to delivering the clinicals, I think that gives the state comfort that you could go above those amounts.

他們目前正在與亞利桑那州商談將該地點的數量增加到 300 以上。這樣你就可以獲得良好的結果。我認為州政府——而且你可以承諾提供臨床試驗，我認為這讓州政府感到安心，因為你可以超出這些數額。

I can tell you, the discussions we're having with some fairly large states are so positive. Florida specifically, we have such a track record now of producing really stellar outcomes in terms of completion rates and first-time pass rates on the NCLEX examination, which people were worried about because of our scale. But we consistently are producing those results. And so the conversations are just getting more and more positive because in every state, there's a shortage of nurses. And so the model is the outcomes of the model are so strong that we think from a regulatory standpoint, this is just going to get easier and easier for us as we move forward.

我可以告訴你，我們與一些相當大的州進行的討論非常積極。具體來說，在佛羅裡達州，我們在 NCLEX 考試的完成率和首次通過率方面有著非常出色的成績，而人們之前因為我們的規模而對此感到擔憂。但我們始終如一地取得這些成果。因此，對話變得越來越積極，因為每個州都缺乏護士。因此，該模型的成果非常強大，我們認為從監管的角度來看，隨著我們不斷前進，這對我們來說將變得越來越容易。

All right. That's great to hear. If I could just finish up with one and you mentioned regulatory. With all the noise coming out of Washington, D.C., has there been any impact in terms of receiving funds, program approvals, anything else going on that we should be aware of?

好的。我很高興聽到這個消息。如果我可以結束一個問題並且您提到監管的話。華盛頓特區傳出的所有動靜，對獲取資金、專案批准或其他我們應該注意的情況有影響嗎？

No, not really. Other than it's -- the thing that we like the most is that there's such -- there's so much talk about outcomes, whether it's at the K-12 level or at the higher ed level, there's so much talk about outcomes. And what we're producing from a GCE perspective with our 22 partners are stellar outcomes. Higher education has serious issues. And I think this administration is showing signs that they recognize them and want to do something different.

不，不是真的。除此之外——我們最喜歡的是——有很多關於結果的討論，無論是在 K-12 級別還是在高等教育級別，都有很多關於結果的討論。從 GCE 角度來看，我們與 22 位合作夥伴共同取得了卓越的成果。高等教育存在嚴重問題。我認為本屆政府已經表現出認識到這些問題並希望採取一些不同行動的跡象。

Tuitions are too high. Tax subsidies are -- the requirement from the state tax subsidies are too high. The debt levels are too high. Programs aren't tied directly enough to where the new job opportunities in the labor market.

學費太高了。稅收補貼－國家對稅收補貼的要求太高了。債務水平太高。這些計劃與勞動市場的新就業機會沒有直接關聯。

Every time tuition goes up, diversity goes down, and we accomplish in higher education, the exact opposite of what we're trying to accomplish. And so we believe that this administration is going to be extremely excited about the model we have and what we're accomplishing because we're helping solve problems.

每當學費上漲，多元化就會下降，我們在高等教育中所取得的成就與我們想要實現的目標完全相反。因此我們相信，本屆政府將對我們的模式和所取得的成就感到非常興奮，因為我們正在幫助解決問題。

There's a tremendous teacher shortage, and this model is producing new teachers at an unbelievable rate. There's a tremendous nursing shortage. There's a tremendous shortage in the areas of counseling and social work. And those are licensure programs that are very difficult to offer at a distance, but we're doing it and we're doing it successful with -- successfully with our partner institutions, and we're doing it without excessive debt levels and without raising tuition.

教師短缺現象十分嚴重，而這種模式正以令人難以置信的速度培養新教師。護理人員短缺現象十分嚴重。諮詢和社會工作領域的人才短缺現象十分嚴重。這些許可計劃很難在遠端提供，但我們正在做，並且與我們的合作機構一起成功地做了，而且我們在沒有過度債務水平和沒有提高學費的情況下做到了這一點。

And so I think that this administration is going to be very excited about the outcomes we're producing because they're so in line with what they keep -- what they talk about in terms of how they're thinking about the future of education in our country.

因此，我認為本屆政府將對我們所取得的成果感到非常興奮，因為他們所持有的觀點與他們所談論的關於我國教育未來的看法完全一致。

Alex Paris, Barrington Research.

巴林頓研究公司的亞歷克斯‧帕里斯 (Alex Paris)

I just have a couple here at the end. First of all, just kind of continuing the conversation about regulatory. Linda McMahon has been confirmed as the Education Secretary, Nicholas Kent has been nominated as the Undersecretary. The thought is Linda McMahon is going to work her way out of the job in time, the elimination of the Department of Education. Whether that's likely or not, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about the changes going on in the Department of Education and how that could potentially affect or not, Grand Canyon University and your other partner institutions.

最後這裡只剩下幾個了。首先，繼續討論監管問題。琳達·麥克馬洪（Linda McMahon）已被任命為教育部長，尼古拉斯·肯特（Nicholas Kent）被提名為副部長。人們認為琳達·麥克馬洪最終會想辦法辭去教育部的職務，從而取消教育部。無論這是否可能，我都很想聽聽您對教育部正在發生的變化的看法，以及這些變化是否會影響大峽谷大學和您的其他合作機構。

There's -- I'm going to just repeat a little bit of what I said in the previous answer. There's just -- all of the talk coming out of Washington, D.C. with regards to education, whether the K-12 level or the higher end level is focused on outcomes. People are very, very disappointed with the outcomes we're producing in terms of student achievement in the K-12 world, and people are very disappointed about the outcomes that are being produced on college campuses. There is a lower percentage of -- or there's fewer high school graduates in the last two years, but there's a fewer -- lower percentage of them going to college, which is not good long term for the country.

有——我將稍微重複一下我之前回答過的內容。只是——華盛頓特區有關教育的所有討論，無論是 K-12 級別還是更高端的教育，都注重成果。人們對我們在 K-12 領域所取得的學生成績的成果非常非常失望，人們對大學校園所取得的成果感到非常失望。過去兩年，高中畢業生的比例較低，或者說數量較少，但上大學的比例也較低，這對國家長遠而言不是好事。

And when we talk -- the reason we talk so much about graduates is that university's ability to offer programs and delivery platforms that allow them to produce graduates, especially in licensure areas that are very difficult to do is going to be a very desired asset. And our model, the GCE as a service provider, that model is producing tremendous results for our partner institutions. We did end one contract, but almost everybody else -- GCU and all 21 other partners want to do more with us, not less, want to produce more, not less.

我們之所以如此多地談論畢業生，是因為大學提供課程和交付平台的能力，使他們能夠培養畢業生，特別是在非常難以做到的許可領域，這將是一項非常理想的資產。我們的模式，即 GCE 作為服務提供者，正在為我們的合作機構產生巨大的成果。我們確實終止了一份合同，但幾乎所有其他人——GCU 和所有其他 21 個合作夥伴都希望與我們合作更多，而不是更少，希望生產更多，而不是更少。

And so the infrastructure that we have at GCE, the $300 million administrative system, the ability to do things at a distance. And to take into account the person's lifestyle and what the -- those things are all things that I believe this administration is going to be very interested yet. There's a tremendous amount of untapped potential in the workforce today. There's a nursing shortage, which is ridiculous. And it's only because we can't deliver creatively to people who want to become nurses and can become nurses.

因此，我們在 GCE 擁有的基礎設施、價值 3 億美元的管理系統以及遠端處理事務的能力。並且考慮到個人的生活方式等等——我相信這些都是本屆政府會非常感興趣的事情。當今的勞動市場還有大量尚未開發的潛力。護士短缺的問題十分嚴重，真是荒唐。這只是因為我們無法為想要成為護理師和能夠成為護理師的人提供創造性的服務。

The same thing is true for teaching. The same thing is counseling and social work. The same thing is true in cybersecurity. And I could name other areas.

對於教學也是如此。心理諮商和社會工作也是一樣。在網路安全領域也存在著同樣的情況。我還可以說出其他地區的名字。

And so I think we'll do our best to become a part of what needs to be solution-oriented strategies. And we think that this administration is going to be extremely excited about supporting the things that we're doing because we're producing results. We're producing the kind of outcomes I think they think are going to be exciting.

因此我認為我們將盡最大努力成為解決方案導向策略的一部分。我們認為，本屆政府將非常高興地支持我們所做的事情，因為我們正在取得成果。我認為，我們所取得的成果將會令他們興奮。

Great. That's helpful. I appreciate that additional color. Also, during the fourth quarter, you had a big win in the courts, the Ninth Circuit ruled resoundingly in favor of your appeal regarding the not-for-profit decision and remanded it back to the Department of Education. I think this happened a couple of days after your last conference call.

偉大的。這很有幫助。我很欣賞那額外的顏色。此外，在第四季度，您在法庭上取得了重大勝利，第九巡迴法院以壓倒性優勢裁定支持您關於非營利決定的上訴，並將其發回教育部。我認為這是您上次電話會議後的幾天。

I was wondering if there's any updates there in terms of expected time line and so on for the -- the Department of Education to make some comment?

我想知道教育部在預期時間表等方面是否有任何更新，以便做出一些評論？

No, I mean it's -- that was GCU. And obviously, GCU is elated because it was made clear that we said all along, what GCU said all along was true, which is that it went through a completely legitimate process to regain its nonprofit status. It was approved by the IRS, who has the authority to make that approval. They've got the expertise and the authority to do it.

不，我的意思是——那是 GCU。顯然，GCU 非常高興，因為我們明確表示，GCU 一直以來所說的都是事實，即它經歷了完全合法的程序才恢復了非營利組織地位。它已獲得美國國稅局的批准，美國國稅局有權力做出此項批准。他們擁有專業知識和權威來做這件事。

GCU has been operating successfully as a nonprofit for six years. And so for an objective court to vote unanimously that the department was outside their scope of authority in making that ruling was completely appropriate, and it's now been remanded back to the department. We don't know anything further other than we're going to have a new Secretary of Education, I think, soon. And we'll see how that impacts what to remand, how that turns out. But we're very -- GCU was very helpful, that this was a major milestone in the whole attack that has taken place in the last four years.

GCU 作為非營利組織已經成功運作了六年。因此，客觀的法庭一致投票認為該部門在做出該裁決時超出了其權限範圍，這是完全恰當的，現在該案已被發回該部門。我們不知道其他任何消息，但我想，我們很快就會有一位新的教育部長。我們將觀察這對發回重審有何影響以及結果如何。但我們非常——GCU 非常有幫助，這是過去四年發生的整個襲擊事件中的一個重要里程碑。

And [Perry], GCU, I know is very hopeful that this will be behind it soon. But that was a major, major important ruling from an objective court that rolled unanimously in GCU's paper, which is extremely positive result.

我知道，GCU 的 [Perry] 非常希望這件事能盡快結束。但這是客觀法庭做出的一項重大裁決，且在 GCU 的文件中得到了一致通過，這是一個非常積極的結果。

Yes, that's great news and obviously, long overdue. Last question, and maybe this one is for Dan. Given your expectations which are in keeping with previous commentary on the hybrid pillar, up low to mid-teens in the Spring and for the rest of 2025. Based on those expectations for enrollment, is it still your expectation that hybrid as taken together will cross over -- cross back to profitability in 2025?

是的，這是個好消息，而且顯然早就該這樣了。最後一個問題，也許是這個問題該問丹。鑑於您的預期與先前對混合支柱的評論一致，春季以及 2025 年剩餘時間內的成長率將保持在低點至中等水平。根據這些入學預期，您是否仍預期混合型企業將在 2025 年實現盈利？

Yes. Again, we don't really monitor that from a financial perspective anymore. We don't -- we've centralized so many services at the GCE level that we just don't look at it that way. But given where the site -- I talked about this earlier, but where the site margins are for all of the locations, I think that's an appropriate expectation. We've reached the end of our fourth quarter conference call.

是的。再說一遍，我們實際上不再從財務角度來監控這一點。我們不會——我們已經在 GCE 層級集中瞭如此多的服務，以至於我們不會以那種方式看待它。但考慮到站點的位置——我之前談過這個問題，但考慮到所有位置的站點利潤率，我認為這是一個合理的預期。我們的第四季電話會議已經結束。

We appreciate your time and interest in Grand Canyon Education. If you still have questions, please contact myself, Dan Bachus. Thank you for your time.

我們感謝您對大峽谷教育的時間和關注。如果您還有疑問，請聯絡我，Dan Bachus。感謝您的時間。