Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call November 6, 2024 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Dan Bachus - CFO
Brian Mueller - Chairman and CEO

Conference Call Participants

Jeff Silber - BMO Capital Markets
Steven Pawlak - Robert W. Baird

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q3 2024 Grand Canyon Education Earnings Conference Call [Operator Instructions]. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Dan Bachus, CFO. Please go ahead.

Dan Bachus

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

Brian Mueller

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Grand Canyon Education's Third Quarter 2024 Conference Call. GCE had another solid quarter, producing online enrollment growth of 5.8%, and hybrid growth excluding the closed site and those in teach-out, 12.6%. Although we are disappointed that ground enrollment is down slightly year-over-year, this was not unexpected given the widely reported challenges faced industry-wide. We also continue to produce strong retention rates, while investing heavily in initiatives for our university partners. The investment 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 fastest site. Many older students 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. With that, I would like to review the results of the 4 delivery platforms at GCE. First, the online campus at Grand Canyon University.