Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 787,102	$ 818,601	$ 2,436,514	$ 2,434,687
Costs and expenses:
Direct costs	677,816	728,743	2,081,125	2,110,901
General and administrative expenses	73,680	64,999	194,184	221,909
Loss on impairment of assets	10,030	0	10,030	0
Operating income	25,576	24,859	151,175	101,877
Interest income	3,502	3,677	9,358	9,702
Interest expense	(58,319)	(69,103)	(181,764)	(256,677)
Loss on debt extinguishment			(7,481)	(8,425)
Gain (loss) on derivatives	(144)	(19,930)	92,112	19,187
Other income (expense), net	8,312	(778)	10,815	(568)
Foreign currency exchange (loss) gain, net	(26,492)	6,624	(43,942)	(2,221)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in net income of affiliates	(47,565)	(54,651)	30,273	(137,125)
Income tax benefit (expense)	3,773	(12,530)	(65,822)	(13,668)
Equity in net income of affiliates, net of tax			0	1
Loss from continuing operations	(43,792)	(67,181)	(35,549)	(150,792)
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax benefit (expense)	(34,466)	(36,309)	22,459	44,047
Gain (loss) on sales of discontinued operations, net of tax expense (benefit)	(18,426)	0	311,904	0
Net income (loss)	(96,684)	(103,490)	298,814	(106,745)
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	1,895	5,531	(315)	2,365
Net income (loss) attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	(94,789)	(97,959)	298,499	(104,380)
Accretion of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock and other redeemable noncontrolling interests and equity	324	(84,060)	(61,403)	(192,141)
Gain upon conversion of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock			74,110	0
Net income (loss) available to common stockholders	$ (94,465)	$ (182,019)	$ 311,206	$ (296,521)
Basic and diluted loss per share:
Loss from continuing operations (in USD per share)	$ (0.18)	$ (0.82)
Loss from discontinued operations (in USD per share)	(0.24)	(0.20)
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD per share)	$ (0.42)	$ (1.02)
Basic earnings (loss) per share:
Income (loss) from continuing operations (in USD per share)			$ (0.10)	$ (2.03)
Income from discontinued operations (in USD per share)			1.59	0.26
Basic earnings (loss) per share (in USD per share)			1.49	(1.77)
Diluted earnings (loss) per share:
Loss from continuing operations (in USD per share)			(0.16)	(2.03)
Income from discontinued operations (in USD per share)			1.59	0.26
Diluted earnings per share (in USD per share)			$ 1.43	$ (1.77)