Significant Accounting Policies - Schedule of Balances of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Disclosure [Line Items]
Accounts, receivables deemed uncollectible, period	2 years
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Movement in Valuation Allowances and Reserves [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	$ 204,252	$ 196,270
Additions: charges to bad debt expense	22,153	16,502
Additions: charges to other accounts	0	503
Deductions	(24,883)	(17,571)
Balance at end of period	$ 201,522	$ 195,704

Allowance For Doubtful Accounts, Receivables Deemed Uncollectible, Period

No definition available.

Name:	laur_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsReceivablesDeemedUncollectiblePeriod
Namespace Prefix:	laur_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MovementInValuationAllowancesAndReservesRollForward
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Total of allowances and reserves, the valuation and qualifying accounts that are either netted against the cost of an asset (in order to value it at its carrying value) or that reflect a liability established to represent expected future costs.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-09)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24092-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesBalance
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of increase in the allowances and reserves, which consist of the valuation and qualifying accounts that are either netted against the cost of an asset or that reflect a liability established to represent expected future costs, from charges to costs and expenses.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesChargedToCostAndExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesChargedToOtherAccounts
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Total of the deductions in a given period to allowances and reserves, the valuation and qualifying accounts that are either netted against the cost of an asset (in order to value it at its carrying value) or that reflect a liability established to represent expected future costs, representing receivables written off as uncollectible and portions of the reserves utilized, respectively.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesDeductions
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAndQualifyingAccountsDisclosureLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesTypeAxis=us-gaap_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: