Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. (Operator instructions). And our first question is from the line of Mark Marostica with Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead.
Mark Marostica - Piper Jaffray
Thank you. I wonder if you could comment on student persistence in the quarter?
Kim McWaters
I would say overall, it was relatively flat. We have seen some fluctuation at different sites depending on geography but it’s not a significant deterioration or improvement.
Mark Marostica - Piper Jaffray
Okay. Then just one follow up here, regarding your comment on advertising expense, I think you said it was going to be for the fourth quarter, correct me if I am wrong, a little bit less than Q3 and the year ago period. Is that correct?
Kim McWaters
Yes.
Mark Marostica - Piper Jaffray
Perhaps if you could give us what it was a year ago in Q4? That will be helpful.
Kim McWaters
Maybe Jenny can look that up for us while we are here. I do not have it right at my fingertip. She is looking, hold on one sec.
Mark Marostica - Piper Jaffray
Okay.
Kim McWaters
It looks like total advertising cost -- well I do not have it for the quarter. I am sorry. I just have it for the fiscal year. We'll keeping digging.
Eugene Putnam
Why do not we go to the next question, and we will answer that on the call here, while she looks it up.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of with Kelly Flynn with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Kelly Flynn - Credit Suisse
Thanks. I know you do not want to give guidance, but I am going to ask you for some guidance. Is there anyway you could give us a rough estimate of kind of where overall expenses may trend in the fourth quarter versus the third quarter level?
Eugene Putnam
Well, I guess without giving guidance, we have mentioned that there is roughly on an aftertax basis, if you do the math on the three items that I laid out, close to $600 in aftertax expense from those unusual items. Those, as I said will not continue. So I think to start with, we are lower on that. We will have some lower advertising expense but there also things that will be going in the other way.
So, I guess the best way to say is, I would not anticipate a significant change in the raw dollar of expenses one way or the other.
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