Revenue Revenue

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Revenue Recognition

Laureate's revenues primarily consist of tuition and educational service revenues. We also generate other revenues from student fees, dormitory/residency fees and other education-related activities. These other revenues are less material to our overall financial results and have a tendency to trend with tuition revenues. Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. These revenues are recognized net of scholarships and other discounts, refunds, waivers and the fair value of any guarantees made by Laureate related to student financing programs. Laureate's institutions have various billing and academic cycles.

We adopted ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 606) as of January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective transition method and elected to apply the standard only to contracts that were not completed as of that date. We recorded a net increase to opening retained earnings of approximately $1,400 as of January 1, 2018 due to the cumulative impact of adopting Topic 606, with the impact primarily related to the deferral of costs to obtain a contract which were previously expenses as incurred. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under ASC Topic 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with the Company’s historic accounting under ASC Topic 605.

We determine revenue recognition through the five-step model prescribed by Topic 606, as follows:

•Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;

•Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;

•Determination of the transaction price;

•Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

•Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation.

We assess collectibility on a portfolio basis prior to recording revenue. Generally, students cannot re-enroll for the next academic session without satisfactory resolution of any past-due amounts. If a student withdraws from an institution, Laureate's obligation to issue a refund depends on the refund policy at that institution and the timing of the student's withdrawal. Generally, our refund obligations are reduced over the course of the academic term. We record refunds as a reduction of deferred revenue as applicable.

The following table shows the components of Revenues by reportable segment and as a percentage of total net revenue for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:



	Brazil			Mexico			Andean			Rest of World			Online & Partnerships			Corporate⁽¹⁾			Total
2019
Tuition and educational services	$	997,130		$	715,817		$	1,242,508		$	201,806		$	707,963		$	—		$	3,865,224		119	%
Other	9,935			101,224			87,479			7,934			50,157			5,069			261,798			8	%
Gross revenue	1,007,065			817,041			1,329,987			209,740			758,120			5,069			4,127,022			127	%
Less: Discounts / waivers / scholarships	(428,616		)	(164,195		)	(140,286		)	(19,604		)	(123,995		)	—			(876,696		)	(27	)%
Total	$	578,449		$	652,846		$	1,189,701		$	190,136		$	634,125		$	5,069		$	3,250,326		100	%
2018
Tuition and educational services	$	1,024,019		$	701,223		$	1,202,944		$	186,049		$	723,648		$	—		$	3,837,883		117	%
Other	11,585			99,015			85,519			8,725			54,499			(8,133		)	251,210			7	%
Gross revenue	1,035,604			800,238			1,288,463			194,774			778,147			(8,133		)	4,089,093			124	%
Less: Discounts / waivers / scholarships	(381,304		)	(154,104		)	(132,772		)	(16,779		)	(113,921		)	—			(798,880		)	(24	)%
Total	$	654,300		$	646,134		$	1,155,691		$	177,995		$	664,226		$	(8,133	)	$	3,290,213		100	%

⁽¹⁾ Includes the elimination of intersegment revenues.

Performance Obligations

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is the unit of accounting in Topic 606. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation identified in the arrangement based on the relative standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. The primary method used to estimate standalone selling price is the adjusted market assessment approach, under which we evaluate the market and estimate the price that a customer would be willing to pay for the goods and services we provide.

Our performance obligations are primarily satisfied over time during the course of an academic semester or academic year. Laureate's transaction price is determined based on gross price, net of scholarships and other discounts, refunds, waivers and the fair value of any guarantees made by Laureate related to student financing programs. The majority of our revenue is derived from tuition and educational services agreements with students, and thus, is recognized over time on a weekly straight-line basis over each academic session. We view the knowledge gained by the student as the benefit which the student receives during the academic sessions. We use the output method to recognize tuition and educational services revenue as this method faithfully depicts our performance toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation. Dormitory/residency revenues, which are included in the Other line item in the table above, are recognized over time throughout the occupancy period using the output method based on the proportional period of time elapsed which faithfully depicts our performance toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation.

We have elected the optional exemption to not disclose amounts where the performance obligation is part of a contract that has an original expected duration of one year or less. We expect to recognize substantially all revenue on these remaining performance obligations over the next 12 months.

Contract Balances

The timing of billings, cash collections and revenue recognition results in accounts receivable (contract assets) and deferred revenue and student deposits (contract liabilities) on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. We have various billing and academic cycles and recognize student receivables when an academic session begins, although students generally enroll in courses prior to the start of the academic session. Receivables are recognized only to the extent that it is probable that we will collect substantially all of the consideration to which we are entitled in exchange for the goods and services that will be transferred to the student. We receive advance payments or deposits from our students before revenue is recognized, which are recorded as contract liabilities in deferred revenue and student deposits. Payment terms vary by university with some universities requiring payment in advance of the academic session and other universities allowing students to pay in installments over the term of the academic session.

All of our contract assets are considered accounts receivable and are included within the Accounts and notes receivable balance in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Total accounts receivable from our contracts with students were $432,910 and $373,855 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. All contract asset amounts are classified as current. Contract liabilities in the amount of $216,816 and $193,226 were included within the Deferred revenue and student deposits balance in the current liabilities section of the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Substantially all of the contract liability balance at the beginning of the year was recognized into revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019.

Costs to Obtain a Contract

Certain commissions and bonuses earned by third party agents and our employees are considered incremental and recoverable costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. These costs are deferred and then amortized over the period of benefit which ranges from two to four years. We determined the expected period of benefit, by university, as the expected student enrollment period. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the asset balances were approximately $23,900 and $11,500, respectively, and the accumulated amortization balances were approximately $12,300 and $4,400, respectively, both of which are included in Deferred costs, net, in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The associated operating costs of approximately $10,200 and $4,400, respectively, were recorded in Direct costs in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. We also pay certain commissions and bonuses where the period of benefit is one year or less. We have elected the practical expedient available in ASC 340-40 whereby any incremental costs of obtaining a contract are recognized as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the asset that would have been recognized is one year or less.

Practical Expedients and Optional Exemptions

We elected to adopt this standard using the modified retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of adoption recognized at the initial date of application. We have elected to apply the standard only to contracts that are not completed at the initial date of application.

As noted above, we recognize the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a student as an expense when incurred in instances where the amortization period of the asset that we would have recognized is one year or less.

We have made an accounting policy election to exclude from the measurement of the transaction price all taxes assessed by governmental authorities that are both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transactions and collected by the entity from our customers (e.g., sales, use, value added and excise taxes).