Capital Stock, Stock Awards, and Stock Options (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended														12 Months Ended			2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 02, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Accelerated dividends in lieu of regular quarterly dividends in 2013 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Kaplan Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Kaplan Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Kaplan Stock Option [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Kaplan Stock Option [Member] Subsequent Event [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Kaplan Stock Option [Member] Senior Manager [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Kaplan Stock Option [Member] Senior Manager [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Kaplan Stock Option and Restricted Stock [Member] Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Kaplan Stock Option and Restricted Stock [Member] Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Kaplan Stock Option and Restricted Stock [Member] Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member] Kaplan Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member] Kaplan Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member]	Feb. 27, 2014 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] Subsequent Event [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member] employee	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] 2003 Employee Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] Exercise price above fair market value of common stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards and Stock Options [Member] 2012 Incentive Compensation Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member]	Feb. 27, 2014 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member] Subsequent Event [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member] Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member] employee	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member] Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Stock Awards [Member] 2001 Incentive Compensation Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Maximum [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] 2003 Employee Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Maximum [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] 2012 Incentive Compensation Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Minimum [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] 2003 Employee Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member] Minimum [Member] Stock Option Plan [Member] 2012 Incentive Compensation Plan [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Kaplan Restricted Stock [Member] Subsequent Event [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Kaplan Restricted Stock [Member] Senior Manager [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Right to elect Board of Directors percentage																												30.00%
Conversion of Class A shares to Class B																										50,310	10,000
Conversion of stock from Class A to Class B, percentage																										4.00%	1.00%
Shares repurchased by company																												33,024	301,231	644,948
Cost of shares repurchased by company	$ 4,196,000	$ 103,196,000	$ 248,055,000																									$ 17,700,000	$ 103,200,000	$ 248,100,000
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased																															750,000
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased remaining under previous authorization																															43,573
Authorized shares remaining for repurchase																												159,219
Shares reserved for issuance																																						101,194		471,800							43,950
Shares subject to award outstanding	114,479	207,917	77,319	48,359																																		101,194		91,029							43,950
Shares available for future awards																																								380,771
Number of shares affected by modification of terms																																				4,500									86,824
Number of employees affected by modification of terms of share awards																																				6									102
Number of share awards with accelerated vesting																																				4,250									45,374
Number of shares modified by the elimination of a market condition and vesting terms																																													15,000
Number of shares forfeited due to modification	92,018	7,616	1,938																																										26,450
Number of stock options forfeited due to modification																																				250
Number of shares offered to settle in cash due to modification																																													26,124
Cash paid for the settlement of shares due to modification																																													13,100,000
Incremental stock compensation expense, net of forfeitures, due to modification					20,700,000																																800,000									19,900,000
Share awards outstanding, restriction will lapse in 2014																																									10,250
Share awards outstanding, restriction will lapse in 2015																																									32,453
Share awards outstanding, restriction will lapse in 2016																																									21,515
Share awards outstanding, restriction will lapse in 2017																																									50,261
Awarded, Number of Shares	70,165	145,348	44,030																																									750
Stock-based Compensation Expense																					2,900,000	(1,100,000)	(1,300,000)									3,500,000	2,900,000	2,700,000							35,200,000	11,400,000	8,900,000
Total unrecognized compensation expense																																3,400,000									29,600,000
Years over which cost expected to be recognized																																1 year 10 months 24 days									2 years 1 month 6 days
Shares reserved for options granted under the plan																																						1,900,000
Vesting period																		4 years						5 years	4 years																							10 years	10 years	4 years	4 years
Shares subject to stock options outstanding	121,694	125,694	129,044	87,919									5,000
Options outstanding exercisable now																																73,194
Options outstanding exercisable in 2014																																21,500
Options outstanding exercisable in 2015																																17,875
Options outstanding exercisable in 2016																																5,375
Options outstanding exercisable in 2017																																3,750
Intrinsic value of options outstanding																																24,800,000
Intrinsic value of options exercisable																																14,000,000
Intrinsic value of options unvested																																10,700,000
Market value of company's stock																												$ 663.32
Options unvested, shares																																48,500	61,673
Options unvested, average exercise price																																$ 442.02	$ 460.24
Options unvested, weighted average remaining contractual term, years																																7 years 10 months 24 days
Options Outstanding, Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life	6 years 8 months 12 days
Options Outstanding, Weighted Average Exercise Price	$ 469.76	$ 478.32	$ 494.95	$ 495.05
Intrinsic value of options exercised															1,000,000																	3,200,000
Tax benefit from stock option exercises																																1,300,000
Granted, Number of Shares	15,000	7,500	51,000											0	0	2,500		5,000																	5,000				50,000
Weighted average fair value, granted options																		$ 973														$ 91.74	$ 91.71	$ 110.67
Exercised, Number of Shares		0	0										0	0			2,000															14,500	0	0
Exercised, Average Option Price	$ 391.83	$ 0	$ 0														$ 652
Common Stock, shares outstanding																										1,169,073	1,219,383	6,218,051	6,208,118																								7,206
Fair value of company common stock																																																				$ 1,150
Accrual balance related to stock based compensation							9,900,000
Stock compensation payouts							$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Antidilutive securities, shares										10,000	124,694	115,294							5,500	52,200
Dividends declared per common share		$ 9.80	$ 9.40			$ 9.80