RPT-PREVIEW-Apollo Group Q3 results may meet or exceed Wall St

(Repeats Friday's item with no changes to text)

* What: Q3 results

* When: Monday, June 29

* Q3 expected to meet or beat market expectations

* Enrollments continue to grow

By Amulya Nagaraj

BANGALORE, June 26 (Reuters) - Apollo Group Inc (APOL.O), like other education providers, has benefited from the recession as more people returned to school in search of a better degree, but analysts say the trend will taper off as the economy improves.

Thus the third quarter ended May 31 might well be the inflection point for the for-profit education provider.

"Enrollments will still be strong but this will probably be the best quarter. It will slow down after but not like falling off a cliff," BMO Capital analyst Jeffrey Silber said.

Economists have been talking about green shoots emerging in the U.S. economy ravaged by the credit crisis, and investors believe they do not bode well for education companies.

"We believe that most investors expect Apollo to meet or exceed (third-quarter) consensus estimates given favorable economic conditions for the company, but remain skittish regarding the company's ability to execute as the economy improves," Wedbush analyst Ariel Sokol said in a preview note dated June 22.

Analysts on average are expecting earnings of $1.12 a share, before items, on revenue of $1.04 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company, which is the parent of the University of Phoenix, has posted strong results with enrollment growth exceeding analysts' expectations for the past four quarters.

Analysts expect the streak to continue at least for third quarter.

BMO Capital's Silber expects total enrollment growth to be about 20.5 percent in the third quarter and 17.3 percent next.

Enrollments for new degrees are expected grow about 20.5 percent in the third quarter and drop to about 13.8 percent for the next.