Significant Accounting Policies - Schedule of Variable Interest Entities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Jul. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues	$ 1,261,223	$ 983,394	$ 1,277,439	$ 855,933	$ 1,175,893	$ 929,855	$ 1,231,910	$ 906,534	$ 4,377,989	$ 4,244,192	$ 4,291,659
Depreciation and amortization									264,742	264,879	282,946
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income	181,499	(5,696)	243,850	(62,866)	170,980	12,502	210,568	(11,157)	356,787	382,893	336,957
Net income	200,509	(103,490)	117,098	(120,353)	38,464	80,930	349,238	(102,446)	93,764	366,186	(315,845)
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	195,845	$ (97,959)	$ 116,386	$ (122,807)	41,308	$ 86,317	$ 347,389	$ (103,167)	91,465	371,847	(316,248)
Balance Sheets data:
Cash and cash equivalents	468,733				464,965				468,733	464,965	458,673		$ 461,584
Current assets held for sale	102,623				0				102,623	0
Other current assets	717,498				650,836				717,498	650,836
Total current assets (includes VIE amounts of $407,315 and $322,210, see Note 2)	1,288,854				1,115,801				1,288,854	1,115,801
Goodwill	1,954,666				1,934,464				1,954,666	1,934,464	2,115,897	$ 6,969
Tradenames	1,295,614				1,307,633				1,295,614	1,307,633
Other intangible assets, net	35,927				46,700				35,927	46,700
Long-term assets held for sale	392,391				0				392,391	0
Other long-term assets	2,424,271				2,657,872				2,424,271	2,657,872
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	7,391,723				7,062,470				7,391,723	7,062,470
Current liabilities held for sale	176,719				0				176,719	0
Other current liabilities	1,198,030				1,440,232				1,198,030	1,440,232
Long-term liabilities held for sale	94,407				0				94,407	0
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	3,921,288				4,601,013				3,921,288	4,601,013
Total liabilities (includes VIE amounts of $449,561 and $424,297, see Note 2)	5,390,444				6,041,245				5,390,444	6,041,245
Total stockholders' equity	1,587,282				664,392				1,587,282	664,392	355,426		$ 1,056,548
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	1,575,164				632,210				1,575,164	632,210
Brazil
Balance Sheets data:
Goodwill	493,373				501,055				493,373	501,055	417,938
Mexico
Balance Sheets data:
Goodwill	503,373				480,985				503,373	480,985	578,350
Andean & Iberian
Balance Sheets data:
Goodwill	321,762				297,519				321,762	297,519	292,219
Central America & U.S. Campuses
Balance Sheets data:
Goodwill	58,005				58,005				58,005	58,005	53,138
EMEAA
Balance Sheets data:
Goodwill	117,413				137,114				117,413	137,114	314,466
Operating Segments
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									4,377,989	4,244,192	4,291,659
Depreciation and amortization									264,742	264,879	282,946
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	7,391,723				7,062,470				7,391,723	7,062,470	7,403,445
Operating Segments | Brazil
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									765,746	690,804	672,917
Depreciation and amortization									35,715	35,695	34,261
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	1,256,364				1,245,264				1,256,364	1,245,264	1,054,870
Operating Segments | Mexico
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									646,154	626,011	678,193
Depreciation and amortization									27,990	26,273	35,156
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	969,400				972,171				969,400	972,171	1,157,814
Operating Segments | Andean & Iberian
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									1,313,872	1,188,599	1,121,408
Depreciation and amortization									81,644	82,982	80,556
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	2,117,317				1,951,864				2,117,317	1,951,864	1,841,239
Operating Segments | Central America & U.S. Campuses
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									291,877	274,860	263,283
Depreciation and amortization									15,723	17,360	22,935
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	376,070				345,238				376,070	345,238	378,023
Operating Segments | EMEAA
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									697,244	788,683	881,664
Depreciation and amortization									51,558	54,543	65,069
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	1,022,569				958,883				1,022,569	958,883	1,407,909
Other operations
Revenues, by segment:
Depreciation and amortization									264,742	264,879	282,946
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									356,787	382,893	336,957
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.									482,822	520,087	118,488
Corporate and eliminations
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									(27,278)	(29,741)	(33,804)
Depreciation and amortization									16,672	9,574	7,808
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.									(434,537)	(181,273)	(446,274)
Balance Sheets data:
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	355,856				291,252				355,856	291,252	338,450
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									123,237	113,276	106,005
Balance Sheets data:
Cash and cash equivalents	231,940				169,074				231,940	169,074
Current assets held for sale	22,246				0				22,246	0
Other current assets	153,129				153,136				153,129	153,136
Total current assets (includes VIE amounts of $407,315 and $322,210, see Note 2)	407,315				322,210				407,315	322,210
Goodwill	192,230				181,669				192,230	181,669
Tradenames	110,577				104,117				110,577	104,117
Other intangible assets, net	0				0				0	0
Long-term assets held for sale	185,139				0				185,139	0
Other long-term assets	524,318				701,117				524,318	701,117
Total assets (includes VIE amounts of $1,419,579 and $1,309,113, see Note 2)	1,419,579				1,309,113				1,419,579	1,309,113
Current liabilities held for sale	64,895				0				64,895	0
Other current liabilities	276,252				320,922				276,252	320,922
Long-term liabilities held for sale	41,732				0				41,732	0
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	66,682				103,375				66,682	103,375
Total liabilities (includes VIE amounts of $449,561 and $424,297, see Note 2)	449,561				424,297				449,561	424,297
Total stockholders' equity	970,018				884,816				970,018	884,816
Total stockholders' equity attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	$ 948,966				$ 866,997				948,966	866,997
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary | Operating Segments
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									745,818	711,048	682,367
Depreciation and amortization									49,130	51,708	53,019
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									27,457	11,179	8,062
Net income									46,348	35,075	11,760
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.									43,180	33,033	11,538
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary | Operating Segments | Brazil
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									104	0	0
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									(1)	(80)	(18)
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary | Operating Segments | Mexico
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									0	0	9
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									(876)	(967)	(1,330)
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary | Operating Segments | Andean & Iberian
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									418,019	380,145	363,486
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									(4,900)	(17,166)	(12,849)
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary | Operating Segments | Central America & U.S. Campuses
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									61,919	57,838	54,333
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									274	390	(593)
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary | Operating Segments | EMEAA
Revenues, by segment:
Revenues									265,776	273,065	264,539
Operating (loss) income, by segment:
Operating income									$ 32,960	$ 29,002	$ 22,852