12.

Debt

As of December 31, 2014, our Consolidated Balance Sheet included: (i) outstanding borrowings under the Term Loans (as defined below), as described further below under “—Term Loans,” (ii) the PEAKS Senior Debt issued by the PEAKS Trust, which was consolidated in our consolidated financial statements beginning February 28, 2013, as described further below under “—PEAKS Trust Senior Debt,” and (iii) the CUSO Secured Borrowing Obligation of the CUSO, which was consolidated in our consolidated financial statements beginning September 30, 2014, as described further in Note 8 – Variable Interest Entities.

Term Loans. On December 4, 2014, we and certain of our subsidiaries entered into a financing agreement (the “Original Financing Agreement”) with Cerberus Business Finance, LLC (“Cerberus”), as administrative agent and collateral agent, and the lenders party thereto. Under the Financing Agreement, we borrowed $100,000 aggregate principal amount of senior secured term loans (the “Term Loans”). On December 23, 2014, we entered into Amendment No. 1 to Financing Agreement (“Amendment No. 1”), on March 17, 2015, we entered into Amendment No. 2 to Financing Agreement (“Amendment No. 2”) and on May 26, 2015, we entered into a Limited Consent to Financing Agreement (the “FA Consent”). The Original Financing Agreement, as amended by Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 2 and including the FA Consent, is referred to herein as the “Financing Agreement.”

Amendment No. 1 made modifications to the Original Financing Agreement to extend the time by which we were required to establish certain cash management accounts. Amendment No. 2 provided:

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for an amendment to the limitation on the aggregate amount of payments that we can make related to the PEAKS Program and the CUSO Program in any fiscal year after 2014, modifying it from $20,000 per program in each year to $45,000 under both programs in 2015 and $35,000 under both programs in any year after 2015 that the Financing Agreement is still in effect;

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that our consolidated financial statements (and related certificates) as of and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 do not have to be furnished by us to the lenders until May 31, 2015; and

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for an amendment to the definition of Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio (as defined in the Financing Agreement) to provide that, for purposes of calculating the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio for any period that includes the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2014, the amount of payments made during that fiscal quarter in respect of the PEAKS Program will be deemed to have been $5,000.

The FA Consent provides that our consolidated financial statements (and related certificates) as of and for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2015 do not have to be furnished by us to the lenders until June 15, 2015.

We believe that we will make payments of approximately $29,800 under the PEAKS Guarantee and approximately $13,000, net of approximately $1,400 in recoveries, under the CUSO RSA in 2015. The Financing Agreement limits the aggregate amount of payments that we can make related to the PEAKS Guarantee and the CUSO RSA to $45,000 under both programs in 2015 and to $35,000 under both programs in any year after 2015 that the Financing Agreement is in effect. See Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies for a further discussion of our projected payments under the PEAKS Guarantee and CUSO RSA.

A portion of the proceeds of the Term Loans and other funds were used by us on December 4, 2014 to provide approximately $89,200 in cash collateral for certain letters of credit that remain outstanding for our account, which was in addition to the approximately $100 of cash collateral we had previously provided related to a letter of credit in September 2014, under the Credit Agreement, dated as of March 21, 2012 (as amended and including consents, the “Amended Credit Agreement”), among us, the lenders party thereto, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, Bank of America, N.A., as syndication agent, and Wells Fargo, N.A., as documentation agent. See below for a further description of terms of the Amended Credit Agreement, including following the issuance of the Term Loans. A portion of the proceeds of the Term Loans and other funds were used by us on December 4, 2014 to repay all outstanding loans, including accrued interest and fees, owed under the Amended Credit Agreement, in the amount of approximately $50,400. All commitments of the lenders to lend additional amounts under the Amended Credit Agreement were terminated. A portion of the proceeds of the Term Loans, as well as other funds, were used for payment of fees in connection with the Financing Agreement.

The Term Loans will mature on December 4, 2017. The Term Loans bear interest, at our option, at:

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the higher of (a) the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and (b) 1.00%, plus a margin of 8.50%; or

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the highest of (a) 2.00%, (b) the federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (c) LIBOR plus 1.00% and (d) the U.S. Prime Rate, plus a margin of 8.00%.

The outstanding principal balance under the Financing Agreement must be repaid by us in quarterly installments on the first business day of each March, June, September and December, commencing March 1, 2015 and ending on the maturity date. Each installment payment must be in an amount equal to $2,500 in each quarter of 2015, $5,000 in each quarter of 2016, and $7,500 in each quarter of 2017, provided the last such installment payment shall be in the amount necessary to repay the then outstanding principal balance in full. In addition, the Financing Agreement provides for mandatory prepayment of outstanding principal in an amount equal to 50% of Excess Cash Flow (as defined in the Financing Agreement) calculated based on our cash flows for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016. Any mandatory prepayment amounts due under this provision are payable with the scheduled principal payment due on the first business day of March of the following year.

The Financing Agreement provides that we must pay a premium on any prepayment of outstanding principal that we make during the first two years of the Financing Agreement that is not specifically required under the Excess Cash Flow mandatory prepayment provision. The premium for any such prepayment of principal is 2.0% of the amount of any prepayment we make through December 4, 2015, and 1.0% of the amount of any prepayment we make from December 5, 2015 through December 4, 2016.

We paid a one-time commitment fee of $3,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014 in connection with the Financing Agreement. Under the Financing Agreement, we are required to pay a quarterly administration fee to the Administrative Agent of $25, of which a ratable portion was paid by us on December 4, 2014 for the remainder of the 2014 calendar year.

The Term Loans are guaranteed by certain of our subsidiaries (the “Guarantors” and together with us, the “Loan Parties”) and are secured, subject to certain agreed upon exceptions, by: (i) a first-priority lien on and perfected security interest in substantially all the Loan Parties’ assets, including a pledge of the equity of the Guarantors and our other subsidiaries, (ii) a mortgage on the Loan Parties’ owned real estate, and (iii) control agreements on certain of the Loan Parties’ deposit accounts.

The Financing Agreement contains certain affirmative and negative covenants, including restrictions on the Loan Parties’ ability to incur debt and liens, make investments, dispose of assets, pay dividends and make prepayments on existing indebtedness, in each case subject to customary exceptions.

The Financing Agreement requires us to maintain compliance with a Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Financing Agreement) and a Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio (as defined in the Financing Agreement), as well as with certain educational regulatory measurements. Compliance with the Leverage Ratio and the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio is determined on a quarterly basis, covering certain prior periods as described in the Financing Agreement.

The educational regulatory measurements are calculated over different time periods, based on statutory guidelines. The educational regulatory measurements are set forth in the Financing Agreement, and include the following tests:

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a minimum composite score of our equity, primary reserve and net income ratios;

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our institutions’ loan cohort default rates under Title IV Programs of the HEA;

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our institutions’ compliance with the 90/10 Rule of the HEA;

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our compliance with the ED’s gainful employment regulations; and

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our institutions’ student retention rate.

The Financing Agreement contains certain events of default, including:

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the failure by us to pay any amount owed under the Financing Agreement when due;

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an inaccuracy in any material respect of the representations or warranties that the Loan Parties made in the Financing Agreement;

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a violation of any covenant that the Loan Parties made in the Financing Agreement and the related loan documents;

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a default by us under any other material indebtedness owed by us, including without limitation, a failure to pay any amounts due under the PEAKS Guarantee or CUSO RSA;

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a change of control of us;

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the invalidity of certain liens or guarantees granted or made by the Loan Parties in the Financing Agreement;

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the occurrence of certain regulatory events; and

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certain bankruptcy or insolvency events affecting the Loan Parties.

If an event of default occurs under the Financing Agreement, the lenders may declare all Term Loans then outstanding to be immediately due and payable in full.

Credit Facility. On March 21, 2012, we entered into a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) that provided for a $325,000 senior revolving credit facility. We entered into amendments to the Credit Agreement on March 31, 2014, May 29, 2014, June 30, 2014 (the “Third Amendment”), July 30, 2014 (the “Fourth Amendment”) and September 15, 2014 (the “Fifth Amendment”). We entered into a Consent to Credit Agreement effective October 15, 2014 (the “October Consent”) and a Consent to Credit Agreement, as of November 14, 2014 (the “November Consent” and together with the October Consent, the “Consents”). The Credit Agreement, as so amended and including Consents, is referred to herein as the “Amended Credit Agreement.” The Amended Credit Agreement had a maturity date of March 21, 2015. On December 4, 2014, we used a portion of the proceeds of the Term Loans and other funds to repay all outstanding borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement, and all commitments of the lenders thereunder to make revolving loans, to issue or participate in new letters of credit, and to amend, renew, or extend letters of credit outstanding under the Amended Credit Agreement were terminated.

A portion of the initial borrowings under the Credit Agreement were used to prepay the entire outstanding indebtedness under a prior credit agreement which was terminated on March 21, 2012. In addition to the prepayment of the outstanding indebtedness under the prior credit agreement, borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement were used for general corporate purposes.

Under the Amended Credit Agreement, the aggregate commitment of the lenders, effective June 30, 2014, was reduced to $135,000, and the portion of the commitments available for letters of credit was increased from $25,000 to $85,000. Certain letters of credit in an aggregate amount of approximately $2,352 previously issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. are deemed to be letters of credit issued pursuant to the Amended Credit Agreement. We caused a letter of credit payable to the ED (“ED Letter of Credit”) in the amount of $79,708 to be issued on October 31, 2014. The letters of credit for our account that were issued under the Amended Credit Agreement remain outstanding and a portion of the Term Loans was used to provide cash collateral for such letters of credit. See Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies, for a further discussion of the ED Letter of Credit.

The ED Letter of Credit provides that the ED may draw on the ED Letter of Credit upon certification by the ED that the drafted funds will be used for one or more of the following purposes:

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to pay refunds of institutional or non-institutional charges owed to or on behalf of current or former students of our institutions, whether our institutions remain open or have closed;

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to provide for the “teach-out” of students enrolled at the time of closure of our institutions; and

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to pay any liabilities owing to the ED arising from acts or omissions by our institutions, on or before the expiration of the ED Letter of Credit, in violation of requirements set forth in the HEA, including the violation of any agreement entered into by our institutions with the ED regarding the administration of Title IV Programs.

In addition to the participation fee required to be paid by us pursuant to the original terms of the Credit Agreement related to letters of credit, which accrues at the same rate used to determine the interest rate applicable to Eurodollar Revolving Loans (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement), the Amended Credit Agreement provides that an additional participation fee is required to be paid by us related to the ED Letter of Credit, which accrues at a ticking fee rate on the average daily amount of the lenders’ letter of credit exposure with respect to the ED Letter of Credit. The ticking fee rate is defined as:

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0.00% per annum for the period from September 15, 2014 through and including March 21, 2015;

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1.00% per annum for the period from March 22, 2015 through and including March 21, 2016;

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2.00% per annum for the period from March 22, 2016 through and including March 21, 2017;

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3.00% per annum for the period from March 22, 2017 through and including March 21, 2018;

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4.00% per annum for the period from March 22, 2018 through and including March 21, 2019; and

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5.00% per annum for the period from March 22, 2019 through November 15, 2019.

The Amended Credit Agreement contained, among other things, covenants, representations and warranties and events of default customary for credit facilities. We were required to maintain compliance with a maximum leverage ratio, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, a minimum liquidity amount, and several covenants related to the ED’s regulations. In addition, the amendments to the Amended Credit Agreement, taken together:

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amended certain covenants to allow for the PEAKS Consolidation beginning on February 28, 2013, and for other factors; and

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waived certain defaults related to our financial reporting.

The Amended Credit Agreement was, but effective December 4, 2014, no longer is:

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secured by a pledge of the equity interests of our subsidiaries;

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guaranteed by one of our subsidiaries;

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secured by security interests in substantially all of our personal property and the personal property of the subsidiary guarantor; and

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secured by mortgages on 30 separate parcels of land owned by us, including all of the improvements thereto and fixtures thereon.

In connection with the termination of the commitments and payment of loans outstanding under the Amended Credit Agreement, our obligations under all affirmative and negative covenants in the Amended Credit Agreement, including financial covenants, were released and discharged, and representations and warranties and default provisions in the Amended Credit Agreement were terminated, all effective as of December 4, 2014.

Under the Amended Credit Agreement, we were required to provide cash collateral (in an amount equal to 109% of the face amount of the ED Letter of Credit and 103% of the face amount of all other letters of credit) for any letter of credit issued under the Amended Credit Agreement. As required, we utilized a portion of the proceeds from the Term Loans, as well as other funds, to provide cash collateral for the outstanding letters of credit in the amount of approximately $89,300. The cash collateral may be released partially to us from time to time upon cancellation, termination, expiration or reduction of the face amount of any of the outstanding letters of credit, provided that the remaining cash collateral is not less than 103% of the amount available to be drawn under the letters of credit then remaining outstanding, except the ED Letter of Credit, for which the cash collateral must be not less than 109% of the amount available to be drawn.

Borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement bore interest, at our option, at the LIBOR plus an applicable margin or at an alternative base rate, as defined under the Amended Credit Agreement, plus an applicable margin. The applicable margin for borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement was determined based on the ratio of our total Indebtedness (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement and which primarily included outstanding borrowings, recorded contingent liabilities related to our guarantee obligations, letters of credit and surety bonds) to EBITDA (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) (the “Credit Agreement Leverage Ratio”) as of the end of each fiscal quarter. We also paid a commitment fee on the amount of the unutilized commitments under the Amended Credit Agreement. The amount of the commitment fee was determined based on the Credit Agreement Leverage Ratio as of the end of each quarter.

The effective interest rate on our borrowings under the Financing Agreement, the Amended Credit Agreement or the credit agreement that was in effect prior to the Amended Credit Agreement, as applicable, was approximately:

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4.90% per annum in the year ended December 31, 2014;

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3.60% per annum in the year ended December 31, 2013; and

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2.40% per annum in the year ended December 31, 2012.

The following table sets forth the total amount of interest expense and fees (including the commitment fee and amortized debt discount) that we recognized on our borrowings under the Financing Agreement, the Amended Credit Agreement or the credit agreement that was in effect prior to the Amended Credit Agreement, as applicable, in the periods indicated:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Interest expense and fees	$	3,761	$	3,424	$	3,303

PEAKS Trust Senior Debt. In January 2010, the PEAKS Trust issued the PEAKS Senior Debt in the aggregate principal amount of $300,000 to investors. Beginning on February 28, 2013, the PEAKS Trust was consolidated in our consolidated financial statements. See Note 8 – Variable Interest Entities, for a further discussion of the PEAKS Consolidation. The PEAKS Senior Debt was recorded on our consolidated balance sheet as of February 28, 2013 at its estimated fair value on that date, which was approximately $226,096. The outstanding principal balance of the PEAKS Senior Debt as of February 28, 2013 was $257,533. The $31,437 difference between the estimated fair value and the outstanding principal balance of the PEAKS Senior Debt as of February 28, 2013 was recorded as an accrued discount on our consolidated balance sheet and is being recognized as Interest expense in our Consolidated Statements of Operations using an effective interest rate method over the term of the PEAKS Senior Debt. As of December 31, 2014, the outstanding principal balance of the PEAKS Senior Debt was $96,918 and the carrying value was $76,203. We recorded $37,545 as a current liability as of December 31, 2014, which represented our estimate of the amount of the carrying value that we expect to be due in the 12 months immediately following December 31, 2014.

The PEAKS Senior Debt matures in January 2020 and bears interest at a variable rate based on the LIBOR, plus a 550 basis point margin. The minimum LIBOR rate applied to the PEAKS Senior Debt cannot be less than 2.00%. There are no scheduled principal repayment requirements for the PEAKS Senior Debt prior to the January 2020 maturity date. Under the terms of the PEAKS Program documents, however, amounts received on a monthly basis by the PEAKS Trust that exceed the fees and expenses of the PEAKS Trust then due and the interest then due on the PEAKS Senior Debt are to be paid to reduce the outstanding principal balance of the PEAKS Senior Debt. The assets of the PEAKS Trust (which include, among other assets, the PEAKS Trust Student Loans) serve as collateral for, and are intended to be the principal source of, the repayment of the PEAKS Senior Debt. Payment of the PEAKS Senior Debt may be accelerated by the indenture trustee of the PEAKS Trust or by the holders of the PEAKS Senior Debt in response to certain events of default under the indenture under the PEAKS Program (the “PEAKS Indenture”), including, among other things:

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a payment default by the PEAKS Trust;

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a default in the performance or observation of the PEAKS Trust’s covenants, agreements or conditions under the PEAKS Indenture;

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a breach of our obligations under the PEAKS Guarantee; and

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certain bankruptcy events with respect to the PEAKS Trust or us.

An acceleration of the payment of the PEAKS Senior Debt would result in an acceleration of our obligation to pay the full amount of the PEAKS Senior Debt pursuant to the terms of the PEAKS Guarantee, if the PEAKS Trust was not able to make that payment (and we believe that it is unlikely that the PEAKS Trust would be able to make that payment). The acceleration of our obligation to pay the full amount of the PEAKS Senior Debt, and/or our inability to make that payment, could also result in cross-defaults under the Financing Agreement.

The following table sets forth the total amount of interest expense and discount accretion that we recognized on the PEAKS Senior Debt in the periods indicated:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013
Interest expense	$	20,814	$	21,288
Discount accretion	$	6,712	$	4,926

The effective interest rate on the PEAKS Senior Debt was approximately:

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10.30% per annum in the year ended December 31, 2014; and

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9.90% per annum in the year ended December 31, 2013.

Asset/Liability Ratio. The PEAKS Trust must maintain a minimum required Asset/Liability Ratio. The minimum required Asset/Liability Ratio is 1.05/1.00. The applicable required Asset/Liability Ratio as of each monthly measurement date, however, is based on our compliance, as of the prior quarterly measurement date, with certain metrics specified in the PEAKS Program documents, including maximum leverage ratios and minimum liquidity amounts. If we are not in compliance with those metrics as of the end of a fiscal quarter, the required Asset/Liability Ratio increases to 1.40/1.00, until the monthly measurement date following the end of a succeeding quarter at which we are in compliance with those metrics. As a result of the PEAKS Consolidation and other factors, we were not in compliance with those metrics as of December 31, 2014. For purposes of computing the Asset/Liability Ratio, as of December 31, 2014, the amount of the assets of the PEAKS Trust was $127,652 and the amount of the liabilities was $96,918. The amounts used to calculate the Asset/Liability Ratio primarily include, for the assets, the contractual balance of the PEAKS Trust Student Loans that have not defaulted, and, for the liabilities, the amount of the contractual balance of the PEAKS Senior Debt .

If the amount of the assets of the PEAKS Trust does not equal or exceed the outstanding PEAKS Senior Debt by the applicable required Asset/Liability Ratio on a monthly measurement date, we are required to make a payment under the PEAKS Guarantee in an amount that would reduce the outstanding principal balance of the PEAKS Senior Debt to the extent necessary to cause the ratio of the assets of the PEAKS Trust to the resulting outstanding PEAKS Senior Debt to equal or exceed the applicable required Asset/Liability Ratio.

As a consequence of the restatement of our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2013, June 30, 2013 and September 30, 2013, certain quarterly reports that we were required to deliver to the indenture trustee of the PEAKS Trust under the PEAKS Guarantee were inaccurate. We delivered corrected quarterly reports to the indenture trustee on October 9, 2014. If we had delivered accurate quarterly reports or, with respect to periods in 2014 through September 30, 2014, delivered quarterly reports to the indenture trustee of the PEAKS Trust, we believe that the indenture trustee would have made payment demands beginning in April 2013, requiring us to make additional payments under the PEAKS Guarantee totaling approximately $60,340, in the aggregate, in order to maintain an Asset/Liability Ratio of 1.40/1.00. On October 9, 2014, we made a payment under the PEAKS Guarantee of $50,000, which payment, along with other payments that we made to the PEAKS Trust in the third quarter of 2014, included amounts that would have become due between April 2013 and September 2014, had we delivered accurate quarterly reports. The delivery of inaccurate quarterly reports constituted a breach of the PEAKS Guarantee and an event of default under the PEAKS Indenture. In the event of a default under the PEAKS Indenture, the payment of the entire amount of the PEAKS Senior Debt could be accelerated, which would trigger our obligation to pay the full amount of the PEAKS Senior Debt pursuant to our obligations under the PEAKS Guarantee, additional remedies could be sought against us and there could be a cross-default under the Financing Agreement, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. We believe that the delivery of the corrected quarterly reports and the payments we made under the PEAKS Guarantee through October 9, 2014 satisfied our obligations under the PEAKS Guarantee with respect to these matters and cured the breach of the PEAKS Guarantee and event of default under the PEAKS Indenture. We cannot predict, however, whether the holders of the PEAKS Senior Debt will assert other breaches of the PEAKS Guarantee by us or that any breach of the PEAKS Guarantee or event of default under the PEAKS Indenture was not properly cured.

In order to cause the PEAKS Trust to maintain the applicable required Asset/Liability Ratio, we made payments of approximately $156,600 in the year ended December 31, 2014 under the PEAKS Guarantee that were applied by the PEAKS Trust to reduce the amount of the PEAKS Senior Debt. That amount included the:

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$40,000 that we paid in March 2014 pursuant to the PEAKS Letter Agreement, which was applied primarily to make a mandatory prepayment of the PEAKS Senior Debt (see Note 8 – Variable Interest Entities for a further discussion of the PEAKS Letter Agreement);

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payments totaling approximately $51,700 that we made from July 2014 through September 2014 to satisfy our obligations under the PEAKS Guarantee with respect to the increased minimum required Asset/Liability Ratio in prior periods; and

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payments totaling approximately $64,900 that we made from October 2014 through December 2014 to satisfy our obligations under the PEAKS Guarantee with respect to the increased minimum required Asset/Liability Ratio in the current and prior periods.

We also made additional payments under the PEAKS Guarantee in the year ended December 31, 2014 that were not related to maintaining the required Asset/Liability Ratio. See Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies, for a further discussion of the payments made under the PEAKS Program in the year ended December 31, 2014.

The following table sets forth the estimated principal payments on the PEAK Senior Debt in the periods indicated:


Fiscal Year Ending December 31,	Amount
2015	$	37,545
2016		12,226
2017		8,830
2018		9,678
2019		10,673
2020		17,966

Total	$	96,918