THE ADVISORY BOARD COMPANY REPORTS
FISCAL YEAR 2008 SECOND QUARTER RESULTS

Company Reports Quarterly Revenue Growth of 16% and Contract Value Growth of 17%;
Announces New Program Launch

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (November 1, 2007) — The Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ: ABCO) today announced financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2008. Revenues for the quarter increased 16% to $54.0 million, from $46.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2007. Net income was $8.5 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to $7.2 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Contract value grew 17% to $217.5 million as of September 30, 2007, up from $186.3 million as of September 30, 2006.

For the six months ended September 30, 2007, revenues increased 16% to $105.1 million, from $90.9 million for the six months ended September 30, 2006. Net income for the six months ended September 30, 2007 was $15.6 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, compared to $13.7 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago.

To analyze results on a comparable basis to periods prior to the implementation of SFAS No. 123R, the Company’s management uses and is providing adjusted financial results, including adjusted net income and earnings per diluted share, that exclude share-based compensation expense. Adjusted net income for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 was $10.8 million, up from $9.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007. Adjusted earnings per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 increased 21% to $0.58, from $0.48 in the same quarter of the prior year. Adjusted net income for the six months ended September 30, 2007 was $20.2 million, or $1.07 per diluted share compared to $17.8 million, or $0.91 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago. A reconciliation of the Company’s reported and adjusted results is set forth in the “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section included below.

Frank Williams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Advisory Board Company, commented, “We are quite pleased with our financial results for the second quarter. Across the quarter, healthy renewal performance, strong new program introductions and success in cross-selling led to strong revenue and contract value growth. Accordingly, our value proposition of providing cutting-edge, highly applicable best practice research, complemented by an ongoing focus on program innovation continues to resonate in the marketplace. Across the year, member feedback continues to emphasize the tangible economic impact of our membership programs on their most important strategic and operational issues.”

Williams added, “I am also pleased to announce our latest launch, the Supply Quality Performance Program. This program provides a comprehensive toolkit to assist health systems in building a real-time performance benchmark and decision support system aimed at ensuring patient safety and care excellence through the proactive management of supply quality. Through best practice research, performance benchmarking data, and a robust, web-based analytical tool, the program enhances a member institution’s ability to create an infrastructure to ensure that supplies and devices uniformly meet quality standards across a broad organization. Given recent market trends towards increased quality transparency as well as the rapidly shifting medical supply landscape, this infrastructure is critical as an operational and strategic tool in improving patient safety that will increasingly become a critical core competency for our hospital members. We have already established a strong charter membership for the program, including Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Stanford Hospital, University Medical Center at Princeton, Hackensack University Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital of Seattle. The program is off to a strong start, and we are very excited about its potential.”

Outlook for the Remainder of Calendar Year 2007

The Company announced revenue guidance for the next calendar quarter of approximately $55.8 million, and has increased its full year revenue guidance to approximately $211.2 million. The Company expects adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.54 for the quarter ending December 31, 2007, and has increased its full year adjusted earnings per diluted share guidance to $2.10. The Company expects an effective income tax rate of approximately 33.3% for the remainder of fiscal year 2008.

Adjusted expected results exclude share-based compensation expense and are estimated using effective tax rates and number of weighted average diluted shares outstanding calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Beginning in fiscal year 2008, the Company no longer excludes from its adjusted results employer taxes related to the exercise of employee stock options. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for additional information on adjusted financial presentations and a reconciliation with results presented in accordance with GAAP.

Share Repurchase

During the three months ended September 30, 2007, the Company repurchased 276,356 shares of its common stock at a total cost of approximately $15.5 million. To date, the Company has repurchased 4,156,437 shares of its common stock at a total cost of approximately $185.9 million. Repurchases will continue to be made from time to time in open market and privately negotiated transactions subject to market conditions. No minimum number of shares has been fixed. The Company will fund its share repurchases with cash on hand and cash generated from operations. At September 30, 2007, the Company had approximately $153.5 million in cash and marketable securities and no debt.

Web and Conference Call Information

The Company will hold a live conference call to discuss its second quarter fiscal year 2008 news release this evening, November 1, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The conference call will be available via live audio webcast on the Company’s web site at www.advisoryboardcompany.com in the section entitled “Investor Relations” found under the tab “The Firm.” To participate by telephone, the dial-in number is 866.510.0712 and the access code is 80034717. Please be advised to dial-in at least five minutes prior to the call to register. The webcast will be archived for seven days: from 8:00 p.m. Thursday, November 1, until 8:00 p.m. Thursday, November 8, 2007.

About The Advisory Board Company

The Advisory Board Company provides best practices research and analysis to the health care industry, focusing on business strategy, operations and general management issues. The Company provides best practices and research through discrete programs to a membership of more than 2,600 hospitals, health systems, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, health care insurers, and medical device companies in the United States. Each program typically charges a fixed annual fee and provides members with such services as best practice research reports, executive education, on-line analytical tools, and other supporting research services.

THE ADVISORY BOARD COMPANY
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

(1)

In order to allow investors to assess results on a basis consistent with those used by management, the tables below under “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” reconcile GAAP to adjusted amounts for the three and six months ended September 30, 2007 and 2006. Adjusted results exclude the share-based compensation expense recognized by the Company in accordance with SFAS No. 123R. Adjusted results include the employer taxes paid in connection with the exercise of employee stock options of $74,000 and $213,000 for the three and six months ended September 30, 2007, respectively, and $45,000 and $148,000 for the three and six months ended September 30, 2006, respectively.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company believes its calculations of adjusted results to exclude share-based compensation charges provide additional information about the Company’s ongoing operating performance. The Company’s management uses the adjusted presentations to evaluate projected operating results on a basis that is comparable to that used for periods prior to implementation of SFAS No. 123R and provides such information publicly to assist in comparisons to prior periods. For historical results, a reconciliation between results as adjusted and in conformity with GAAP is shown in the attached schedule. The Company is not able to provide a quantitative reconciliation of its outlook for the remainder of calendar year 2007 to GAAP as equity-based compensation is dependent upon a number of unknown factors, including the amount, type and timing of equity-based compensation grants and future stock prices. Because adjusted financial results are not measurements determined in accordance with GAAP and are thus susceptible to varying calculations, they may not be comparable as presented to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

Adjusted financial results are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be viewed as a pro-forma presentation reflecting the elimination of the underlying share-based compensation programs, as those programs are an important element of the Company’s compensation structure and generally accepted accounting principles indicate that all forms of share-based payments should be valued and included as appropriate in results of operations. Management compensates for this aspect of the non-GAAP financial measures by separately evaluating its share-based compensation arrangements.

THE ADVISORY BOARD COMPANY
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO ADJUSTED RESULTS
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of November 1, 2007, the date of this news release, as well as the Company’s current projections, forecasts and assumptions, and involve risks and uncertainties. You are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by certain factors, including those set forth below. Consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements include, among others, the dependence on renewal of membership-based services, dependence on key personnel, the need to attract and retain qualified personnel, management of growth, new product development, competition, risks associated with anticipating market trends, industry consolidation, variability of quarterly operating results, possible volatility in the Company’s stock price, the impact on our financials associated with some of our newer programs that are more dependent upon technology, the effects of adoption of SFAS No. 123R including the effect of the amount, type and timing of future stock-based compensation grants, and various factors related to income and other taxes, including whether the District of Columbia withdraws the Company’s status as a Qualified High-Tech Company, as well as those risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 and also disclosed from time to time in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, which are available on the Company’s website at www.advisoryboardcompany.com in the “Investor Relations” section and at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in the Company’s report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, which will be filed with the SEC in November 2007.

Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made in this news release, which speak only as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update these statements, whether as a result of circumstances or events that arise after the date they are made, new information, or otherwise. You should, however, consult any further disclosures the Company may make in its future filings of its reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.

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