Business Segments (Information by Operating Segment) (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues	$ 888,899	$ 872,529	$ 889,596	$ 836,840	$ 895,891	$ 877,637	$ 854,430	$ 827,612	$ 3,487,864	$ 3,455,570	$ 3,525,997
Income (loss) from operations	105,524	81,873	104,770	53,398	(22,925)	93,236	71,208	37,661	345,565	179,180	334,118
Equity in earnings of affiliates, net	37	5,892	3,868	3,418	2,785	4,099	3,314	3,888	13,215	14,086	5,949
Interest expense, net									(33,803)	(32,551)	(29,079)
Other (expense) income, net	(14,920)	8,110	(12,858)	(4,083)	(17,572)	4,163	(635)	8,588	(23,751)	(5,456)	(55,200)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	82,393	87,296	87,254	44,283	(45,875)	93,408	65,683	42,043	301,226	155,259	255,788
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	59,874	55,633	57,816	59,895	73,731	57,588	56,594	56,165	233,218	244,078	223,403
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									16,848	132,539	22,201
Pension (Credit) Expense									(17,599)	(8,608)	(23,219)
Capital expenditures									220,812	209,618	202,524
Identifiable Assets	4,062,631				4,104,624				4,062,631	4,104,624
Investment in Marketable Equity Securities	487,156				380,087				487,156	380,087
Investments in Affiliates	15,754				15,535				15,754	15,535
Prepaid Pension Cost	1,245,505				604,823				1,245,505	604,823
Total Assets	5,811,046				5,105,069				5,811,046	5,105,069
Amortization of intangible assets	3,731	2,837	3,313	3,717	7,610	5,090	4,407	3,839	13,598	20,946	22,201
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets	3,250	0	0	0	111,593	0	0	0	3,250	111,593	0
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									2,177,508	2,196,496	2,404,459
Income (loss) from operations									51,301	(105,368)	96,286
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									89,764	101,183	83,735
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									13,212	129,312	19,417
Pension (Credit) Expense									16,538	11,584	6,345
Capital expenditures									45,550	51,241	51,871
Identifiable Assets	1,921,037				1,988,015				1,921,037	1,988,015
Amortization of intangible assets									9,962	17,719	19,417
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									3,250	111,593	0
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Higher Education [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									1,080,908	1,149,407	1,399,583
Income (loss) from operations									71,584	27,245	148,915
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									43,892	58,514	48,379
Pension (Credit) Expense									11,714	7,943	4,249
Capital expenditures									10,879	26,406	19,735
Identifiable Assets	859,208				949,260				859,208	949,260
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Test Preparation [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									293,201	284,252	303,093
Income (loss) from operations									4,118	(10,799)	(28,498)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									19,194	19,718	15,489
Pension (Credit) Expense									2,674	2,007	1,288
Capital expenditures									7,008	8,211	17,266
Identifiable Assets	173,435				197,672				173,435	197,672
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Kaplan International [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									797,362	753,790	690,226
Income (loss) from operations									53,424	49,612	46,498
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									16,296	21,149	16,746
Pension (Credit) Expense									363	189	142
Capital expenditures									27,601	16,864	16,304
Identifiable Assets	864,507				818,613				864,507	818,613
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Kaplan Corporate and Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									7,990	15,039	18,940
Income (loss) from operations									(78,160)	(172,472)	(69,509)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									10,382	1,802	3,121
Pension (Credit) Expense									1,787	1,445	666
Capital expenditures									62	(240)	(1,434)
Identifiable Assets	23,887				22,470				23,887	22,470
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Intersubsegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									(1,953)	(5,992)	(7,383)
Income (loss) from operations									335	1,046	(1,120)
Operating Segments [Member] | Cable [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									807,309	787,117	760,221
Income (loss) from operations									169,735	154,581	156,844
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									128,184	129,107	126,302
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									220	211	267
Pension (Credit) Expense									3,708	2,540	1,924
Capital expenditures									160,246	150,525	143,225
Identifiable Assets	1,215,320				1,187,603				1,215,320	1,187,603
Operating Segments [Member] | Television Broadcasting [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									374,605	399,691	319,206
Income (loss) from operations									171,276	191,642	117,089
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									12,467	13,018	12,448
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									0	0	0
Pension (Credit) Expense									3,381	4,970	1,669
Capital expenditures									12,702	6,401	6,415
Identifiable Assets	383,251				374,075				383,251	374,075
Operating Segments [Member] | Other Businesses [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									128,803	72,837	42,891
Income (loss) from operations									(23,468)	(33,010)	(16,771)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									2,177	770	674
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									3,416	3,016	2,517
Pension (Credit) Expense									610	169	132
Capital expenditures									2,005	1,451	1,013
Identifiable Assets	171,539				88,393				171,539	88,393
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate Office [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									0	0	0
Income (loss) from operations									(23,279)	(28,665)	(19,330)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									626	0	244
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									0	0	0
Pension (Credit) Expense									(41,836)	(27,871)	(33,289)
Capital expenditures									309	0	0
Identifiable Assets	371,484				466,538				371,484	466,538
Intersegment Elimination [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									$ (361)	$ (571)	$ (780)