Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Sara Gubins – Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Sara Gubins – Bank of America Merrill Lynch
If you're lending less than expected I'm wondering why bad debt is coming in higher than expected, and I'm wondering is that a function of maybe some of that not moving into the line item as a discount to revenue as rapidly as expected, or are you seeing some change in underlying bad debt?
Kenneth S. Ord
No. I think you're entirely on point Sara. Until it moves into the discount line, it really is in accounts receivable, which means that there's a greater bad debt applied to the accounts receivable. So we're feeling better that the accounts receivable balance has come down, the DSO is down and that's, I think, a forward indicator that bad debt should be trending as we gave you in our guidance.
Sara Gubins – Bank of America Merrill Lynch
On the whole if we combine what was going to come out of revenue and what was going to be included in bad debt, you're expecting that total number to be lower than you had previously expected in fiscal year '09?
Kenneth S. Ord
That's true.
Sara Gubins – Merrill Lynch Global Securities
Then just as a follow-up, are you hiring as many admissions reps to focus on high school marketing as you expected, or are you planning to ramp that up more rapidly in the second half?
Peter C. Waller
Sara, we put it together a careful three-year plan on building our high school and this was really the first year of that build plan. We've been hiring at the rate that we expected and putting the management structure in place that we expect and we have plans to continue to ramp that next year. As you know, high school really has a delay impact so we put the reps in place this year and we expect to see the starts come through at the beginning of next year as the high school cycle finishes.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Silber – BMO Capital Markets.
Jeffrey Silber – BMO Capital Markets
I was wondering if you would be willing to give us some trend information by your various verticals. I'd like to see how healthcare, for example, is doing against auto tech.
Kenneth S. Ord
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