Lincoln Educational Revenue Jumps 22% as Student Population Grows
The vocational-education company posted $142.6 million in second-quarter revenue, up 22.4% year over year, as average student population rose 14.5%.
Lincoln Educational Services (LINC), the vocational-education provider, reported second-quarter revenue of $142.6 million, a 22.4% increase from $116.5 million a year earlier, powered by a 14.5% rise in average student population alongside tuition increases. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 42.4% to $12.7 million, and net cash from operations swung to $22.1 million from $0.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
The results extended a strong first half — year-to-date revenue reached $286.5 million, up 22.5%, while year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA surged 62.9% to $28.2 million. Yet beneath the headline growth, several metrics decelerated from the prior quarter's pace, and management chose to reiterate rather than raise full-year guidance for the first time this cycle.
Student starts, a leading indicator of future enrollment and revenue, grew just 1% on an adjusted basis in the second quarter, a sharp pullback from the 19.5% start growth recorded in the first three months of the year. The slowdown was due to fewer enrolled students attending their first day of class and shifts in student decision-making that weighed on conversion from enrollment to start. Ending student population still rose 10.4% year over year to roughly 18,900, but that too decelerated from the first quarter's 17.6% growth rate.
The Transportation and Skilled Trades segment carried nearly all of the quarter's start growth, with starts up 0.9% on an adjusted basis and average population climbing 19.3%. Healthcare and Other Professions, by contrast, posted flat starts and a 1.5% decline in average population. Year to date, the skew is starker: Transportation and Skilled Trades average population grew 22.4% while Healthcare and Other Professions contracted 3.2%, underscoring a widening mix shift toward trades training.
Cost pressures emerged on the direct-education side. Educational services and facilities expense grew 27.4% in the quarter, outpacing revenue growth, partly reflecting $2.9 million in costs from new campuses in Houston, Hicksville, and Rowlett. SG&A, however, grew 18.8%, slower than revenue, indicating the company is extracting operating leverage from its overhead base. Operating income for the quarter rose 15.1% to $3.3 million, while the year-to-date figure surged 54.5% to $9.7 million.
Lincoln reiterated its full-year 2026 guidance for revenue of $590 million to $600 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $76 million to $80 million, net income of $23 million to $26 million, and student-start growth of 10% to 14%. Year-to-date adjusted starts have grown 9%, leaving the company near the low end of that range with two quarters remaining. Capital-expenditure guidance was raised by roughly $25 million to $95 million–$100 million, reflecting the $18.8 million acquisition of the Melrose Park, Illinois campus property in July and a lease signed for a new Suitland, Maryland campus expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2027.
Total liquidity stood at approximately $143 million as of June 30, up from $72 million at the end of March, bolstered by an expansion of the company's credit facility to $125 million from $60 million completed in April. Long-term debt of $26.0 million appeared on the balance sheet at quarter-end, reflecting borrowings under the expanded facility; the company carried no long-term debt at the close of 2025. Lincoln also reiterated its 2030 long-term targets of $850 million in revenue and $150 million in Adjusted EBITDA.