Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 1,001,802	$ 1,017,196	$ 1,623,598	$ 1,649,412
Costs and expenses:
Direct costs	720,230	725,774	1,372,644	1,403,309
General and administrative expenses	67,405	73,202	121,316	120,504
Loss on impairment of assets	470	0	470	0
Operating income	213,697	218,220	129,168	125,599
Interest income	2,844	2,588	6,397	5,856
Interest expense	(41,467)	(60,110)	(96,122)	(123,445)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(15,595)	0	(26,217)	(7,481)
Gain on derivatives	2,632	111,596	7,815	92,256
Other income (expense), net	7,696	(91)	8,055	2,506
Foreign currency exchange gain (loss), net	8,817	(5,668)	4,158	(17,450)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in net income of affiliates	178,624	266,535	33,254	77,841
Income tax expense	(74,343)	(92,654)	(39,287)	(69,595)
Equity in net income of affiliates, net of tax	219	0	219	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations	104,500	173,881	(5,814)	8,246
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax benefit (expense)	33,600	38,072	90,174	56,925
Gain on sales of discontinued operations, net of tax expense (benefit)	641,516	12,003	889,521	330,330
Net income	779,616	223,956	973,881	395,501
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	1,976	456	(1,046)	(2,210)
Net income attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	781,592	224,412	972,835	393,291
Accretion of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock and other redeemable noncontrolling interests and equity	194	(4,324)	457	(61,727)
Gain upon conversion of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock	0	74,110	0	74,110
Net income (loss) available to common stockholders	$ 781,786	$ 294,198	$ 973,292	$ 405,674
Basic earnings per share:
(Loss) Income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.48	$ 1.14	$ (0.03)	$ 0.09
Income from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	3.00	0.23	4.36	1.92
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	3.48	1.37	4.33	2.01
Diluted earnings per share:
(Loss) Income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.48	0.78	(0.03)	0.03
Income from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	3.00	0.22	4.36	1.72
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 3.48	$ 1.00	$ 4.33	$ 1.75