Revenue during the quarter dropped 5.94 percent to $21.33 million from $22.68 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 820 basis points over the previous year period to 64.24 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 10.37 percent as compared to a negative 12.54 percent for the previous year period.

Operating loss for the quarter was $2.21 million, compared with an operating loss of $2.84 million in the previous year period.

Ronald L. Shape, Ed.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, “We continue to see enrollment trending in a more positive direction and were pleased to report a second consecutive period of quarter-over-quarter enrollment growth from fall to winter 2016-17 term, even in spite of typical seasonality due to the holidays. As year-over-year enrollment declines are narrowing with each term, our continuing education, doctoral, and graduate programs continue to see healthy growth. Across our footprint, an increasing number of our campuses have begun turning organic enrollment growth on a year-over-year basis. While this may be a reflection of the markets in which other schools have closed, NAU has also refocused its marketing and redesigned its website to be more accessible and intuitive for prospective and current students. We remain focused on providing our students with the necessary tools and support to help them persist with their academic studies and ultimately achieve their goals of graduating and finding a job within their field of study. In this regard, we introduced NAU Tuition Advantage during the spring 2017 term, a new pricing structure that is simple to understand and enables students to take advantage of more courses at a lower per-credit hour price point. Not only does this make an education at NAU more affordable for our students, but we expect it will have a positive impact on our top and bottom lines in the quarters to come.”