Subsequent Events (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jan. 10, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Finance lease obligations		$ 58,253
Subsequent Event \| Education Holding Costa Rica, S.R.L. \| Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale \| Laureate Costa Rica
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions	$ 15,000
Disposal group, contingent liability	$ 7,000
Disposal group, contingent liability, period	2 years
Finance lease obligations	$ 30,000

Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Contingent Consideration, Liability

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	laur_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Contingent Consideration, Liability, Period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of consideration received or receivable for the disposal of assets and liabilities, including discontinued operation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationConsideration
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from finance lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918701-209980

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888419&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

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

- Definition

Detail information of subsequent event by type. User is expected to use existing line items from elsewhere in the taxonomy as the primary line items for this disclosure, which is further associated with dimension and member elements pertaining to a subsequent event.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=laur_EducationHoldingCostaRicaS.R.L.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DiscontinuedOperationsDisposedOfBySaleMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=laur_LusitaniaS.R.L.UniversidadULatinaS.R.L.ULatinaandUniversidadAmericanaUAMS.R.L.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Period Type: