7. RESTRUCTURING CHARGES

During the past several years, we have carried out reductions in force related to the continued reorganization of our corporate and campus functions to better align with total enrollments and made decisions to teach out a number of campuses, meaning gradually close the campuses through an orderly process. A majority of these teach-out campuses have ceased operations as of September 30, 2018, with the two remaining campuses expected to cease operations by December 31, 2018. Additionally, during the quarter ended September 30, 2018, we continued to evaluate our corporate and campus functions to reorganize these functions to best align with our current enrollments to ensure efficient and effective support and recorded additional severance and related costs of approximately $1.9 million. A majority of these costs are expected to be paid during the fourth quarter of 2018.

The following table details the changes in our accrual for severance and related costs associated with all restructuring events for our continuing operations during the quarters and years to date ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 (dollars in thousands):

	Balance, Beginning of Period		Severance & Related Charges		Payments			Non-cash Adjustments ⁽¹⁾			Balance, End of Period
For the quarter ended September 30, 2018	$	721	$	1,898	$	(273	)	$	(46	)	$	2,300
For the quarter ended September 30, 2017	$	4,969	$	-	$	(1,715	)	$	23		$	3,277
For the year to date ended September 30, 2018	$	2,170	$	1,898	$	(1,607	)	$	(161	)	$	2,300
For the year to date ended September 30, 2017	$	8,686	$	-	$	(5,166	)	$	(243	)	$	3,277

(1)	Includes cancellations due to employee departures prior to agreed upon end dates, employee transfers to open positions within the organization and subsequent adjustments to severance and related costs.

The current portion of the accrual for severance and related charges was $2.3 million and $2.1 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, which is recorded within current accrued expenses – payroll and related benefits.

In addition, as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we have an accrual of approximately $0.3 million and $0.5 million, respectively, related to retention bonuses that have been offered to certain employees. These amounts are recorded ratably over the period the employees are retained.

Remaining Lease Obligations of Continuing Operations

We have recorded lease exit costs associated with the exit of real estate space for certain campuses related to our continuing operations, primarily associated with our teach-out campuses. These costs are recorded within educational services and facilities expense on our unaudited condensed consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. The current portion of the liability for these charges is reflected within other accrued expenses under current liabilities and the long-term portion of these charges are included in other liabilities under the non-current liabilities section of our condensed consolidated balance sheets. Changes in our future minimum lease obligations for vacated space related to our continuing operations for the quarters and years to date ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were as follows (dollars in thousands):

	Balance, Beginning of Period		Charges Incurred ⁽¹⁾		Net Cash Payments			Other ⁽²⁾		Balance, End of Period
For the quarter ended September 30, 2018	$	14,327	$	2,304	$	(5,388	)	$	-	$	11,243
For the quarter ended September 30, 2017	$	27,109	$	9,422	$	(9,094	)	$	2,932	$	30,369
For the year to date ended September 30, 2018	$	20,763	$	7,901	$	(17,462	)	$	41	$	11,243
For the year to date ended September 30, 2017	$	36,814	$	14,628	$	(23,496	)	$	2,423	$	30,369

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(1)Includes charges for newly vacated spaces and subsequent adjustments for accretion, revised estimates and variances between estimated and actual charges, net of any reversals for terminated lease obligations.

(2)Includes existing prepaid rent and deferred rent liability balances for newly vacated spaces that offset the losses incurred in the period recorded.

We do not expect to have any significant new charges for remaining lease obligations related to our campuses in teach-out. We have recorded approximately $75.6 million of charges related to remaining obligations for continuing operations since 2015.