Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

The VIEs in Brazil and Mexico include several not-for-profit foundations that have insignificant revenues and operating expenses. Selected Consolidated Statements of Operations information for VIEs was as follows, net of the charges related to the above-described contractual arrangements:



For the years ended December 31,	2017			2016			2015
Selected Statements of Operations information:
Revenues, by segment:
Brazil	$	104		$	—		$	—
Mexico	—			—			9
Andean & Iberian	418,019			380,145			363,486
Central America & U.S. Campuses	61,919			57,838			54,333
EMEAA	265,776			273,065			264,539
Revenues	745,818			711,048			682,367

Depreciation and amortization	49,130			51,708			53,019

Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Brazil	(1		)	(80		)	(18		)
Mexico	(876		)	(967		)	(1,330		)
Andean & Iberian	(4,900		)	(17,166		)	(12,849		)
Central America & U.S. Campuses	274			390			(593		)
EMEAA	32,960			29,002			22,852
Operating income	27,457			11,179			8,062

Net income	46,348			35,075			11,760
Net income attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	43,180			33,033			11,538

Included in net income for the VIEs in the table above is non-operating investment income that was recorded by three of the Chilean institutions relating to investments that these institutions have in a for-profit, education-related real estate subsidiary of Laureate in Chile. This non-operating investment income, which eliminated in consolidation, totaled $11,696, $11,061 and $10,297 for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

The following table reconciles the Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc. as presented in the table above, to the amounts in our Consolidated Statements of Operations:



For the years ended December 31,	2017			2016			2015
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.:
Variable interest entities	$	43,180		$	33,033		$	11,538
Other operations	482,822			520,087			118,488
Corporate and eliminations	(434,537		)	(181,273		)	(446,274		)
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	$	91,465		$	371,847		$	(316,248	)

The following table presents selected assets and liabilities of the consolidated VIEs. Except for Goodwill, the assets in the table below include the assets that can be used only to settle the obligations for the VIEs. The liabilities in the table are liabilities for which the creditors of the VIEs do not have recourse to the general credit of Laureate.

Selected Consolidated Balance Sheet amounts for these VIEs were as follows:



	December 31, 2017				December 31, 2016
	VIE		Consolidated		VIE		Consolidated
Balance Sheets data:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	231,940	$	468,733	$	169,074	$	464,965
Current assets held for sale	22,246		102,623		—		—
Other current assets	153,129		717,498		153,136		650,836
Total current assets	407,315		1,288,854		322,210		1,115,801

Goodwill	192,230		1,954,666		181,669		1,934,464
Tradenames	110,577		1,295,614		104,117		1,307,633
Other intangible assets, net	—		35,927		—		46,700
Long-term assets held for sale	185,139		392,391		—		—
Other long-term assets	524,318		2,424,271		701,117		2,657,872
Total assets	1,419,579		7,391,723		1,309,113		7,062,470

Current liabilities held for sale	64,895		176,719		—		—
Other current liabilities	276,252		1,198,030		320,922		1,440,232
Long-term liabilities held for sale	41,732		94,407		—		—
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	66,682		3,921,288		103,375		4,601,013
Total liabilities	449,561		5,390,444		424,297		6,041,245

Total stockholders' equity	970,018		1,587,282		884,816		664,392
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	948,966		1,575,164		866,997		632,210

Schedule of balances of the allowance for doubtful accounts

The reconciliations of the beginning and ending balances of the Allowance for doubtful accounts were as follows:



For the years ended December 31,	2017			2016			2015
Balance at beginning of period	$	196,270		$	161,658		$	170,140
Additions: charges to bad debt expense	124,308			108,019			107,162
Additions: charges to other accounts ^(a)	—			6,908			—
Deductions ^(b)	(116,326		)	(80,315		)	(115,644		)
Balance at end of period	$	204,252		$	196,270		$	161,658

^(a) Charges to other accounts includes reclassifications.

^(b) Deductions includes accounts receivable written off against the allowance (net of recoveries), reclassifications, and foreign

currency translation. The beginning and ending balances of the Allowance for doubtful accounts include the current

portion, as shown on the face of Consolidated Balance Sheets, in addition to the noncurrent portion that is included in

Notes receivable, net on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Laureate’s financing receivables balances were as follows:



	December 31, 2017			December 31, 2016
Financing receivables	$	22,977		$	29,776
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(8,411		)	(9,175		)
Financing receivables, net of allowances	$	14,566		$	20,601

Schedule of depreciation and amortization periods

Depreciation and amortization periods are as follows:



Buildings	10-50 years
Furniture, equipment and software	2-10 years
Leasehold improvements	2-25 years

Schedule of components of revenue

The following table shows the components of Revenues as a percentage of total net revenue for the periods presented:



For the years ended December 31,	2017					2016					2015
Tuition and educational services	$	4,915,415		112	%	$	4,640,159		109	%	$	4,562,704		106	%
Student fees	137,525			3	%	126,510			3	%	129,521			3	%
Dormitory / residency	29,481			1	%	65,644			2	%	75,759			2	%
Other	225,537			5	%	201,886			5	%	225,785			5	%
Gross revenue	5,307,958			121	%	5,034,199			119	%	4,993,769			116	%
Less: Discounts / waivers / scholarships	(929,969		)	(21	)%	(790,007		)	(19	)%	(702,110		)	(16	)%
Total	$	4,377,989		100	%	$	4,244,192		100	%	$	4,291,659		100	%

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the significant judgments and assumptions made in determining whether a variable interest (as defined) held by the entity requires the variable interest entity (VIE) (as defined) to be consolidated and (or) disclose information about its involvement with the VIE, individually or in aggregate (as applicable); the nature of restrictions, if any, on the consolidated VIE's assets and on the settlement of its liabilities reported by an entity in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets and liabilities; the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with involvement in the VIE; how involvement with the VIE affects the entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the lack of recourse if creditors (or beneficial interest holders) of the consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the primary beneficiary (if applicable); the terms of arrangements, giving consideration to both explicit arrangements and implicit variable interests, if any, that could require the entity to provide financial support to the VIE, including events or circumstances that could expose the entity to a loss; the methodology used by the entity for determining whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity; the significant factors considered and judgments made in determining that the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared (as defined); the carrying amounts and classification of assets and liabilities of the VIE included in the statement of financial position; the entity's maximum exposure to loss, if any, as a result of its involvement with the VIE, including how the maximum exposure is determined and significant sources of the entity's exposure to the VIE; a comparison of the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities and the entity's maximum exposure to loss; information about any liquidity arrangements, guarantees, and (or) other commitments by third parties that may affect the fair value or risk of the entity's variable interest in the VIE; whether or not the entity has provided financial support or other support (explicitly or implicitly) to the VIE that it was not previously contractually required to provide or whether the entity intends to provide that support, including the type and amount of the support and the primary reasons for providing the support; and supplemental information the entity determines necessary to provide.

+ References + Details