Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Domestic Defined Contribution Retirement Plan

Laureate sponsors a defined contribution retirement plan in the United States under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. The plan offers employees a traditional “pre-tax” 401(k) option and an “after-tax” Roth 401(k) option, providing the employees with choices and flexibility for their retirement savings. All employees are eligible to participate in the plan after meeting certain service requirements. Participants may contribute up to a maximum of 80% of their annual compensation and 100% of their annual cash bonus, as defined and subject to certain annual limitations. Laureate may, at its discretion, make matching contributions that are allocated to eligible participants. The matching on the “after-tax” Roth contributions is the same as the matching on the traditional “pre-tax” contributions. Laureate made discretionary contributions in cash to this plan of $5,431, $5,345, and $5,638 for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Non-United States Pension Benefit Plans

Laureate has a defined benefit (pension) plan at a non-United States institution. The projected benefit obligation (PBO) is determined as the actuarial present value as of the measurement date of all benefits calculated by the pension benefit formula for employee service rendered. The amount of benefits to be paid depends on a number of future events incorporated into the pension benefit formula, including estimates of the average life expectancy of employees/survivors and average years of service rendered. The PBO is measured based on assumptions concerning future interest rates and future employee compensation levels. The expected net periodic benefit cost in each year can vary from the subsequent year's actual net periodic benefit cost due to plan amendments and the impacts of foreign currency translation. The unfunded status of this plan is reported as a component of Other current liabilities and Other long-term liabilities.

The net periodic benefit cost was as follows:



For the years ended December 31,	2019			2018			2017
Service cost	$	63		$	77		$	75
Interest	119			118			126
Expected return on assets	—			—			—
Amortization of prior service costs	(57		)	(32		)	22
Recognition of actuarial items	—			—			(15		)
Curtailment gain	(200		)	(47		)	(153		)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	(75	)	$	116		$	55

As discussed in Note 2, Significant Accounting Policies, on January 1, 2018 Laureate adopted ASU 2017-07. Under the amendments in this ASU, the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost is disaggregated and reported in the same line item(s) as other compensation costs arising from services rendered during the period, and the remaining components are presented on the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations, if presented. Because the effect of ASU 2017-07 on prior periods presented was insignificant, we did not revise prior periods. Accordingly, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost is included in Direct costs on the Consolidated Statement of Operations and all other components of net periodic benefit cost are included in Other income (expense), net on the Consolidated Statement of Operations. For the year ended December 31, 2017, all components of net periodic benefit cost are included in Direct costs on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The estimated net periodic benefit cost for the year ending December 31, 2020 is approximately $242.

The weighted average assumptions were as follows:



For the years ended December 31,	2019	2018	2017
Discount rate for obligations	8.75%	10.50%	9.25%
Discount rate for net periodic benefit costs	10.50%	9.25%	8.50%
Rate of compensation increases	4.50%	4.50%	4.50%
Expected return in plan assets	N/A	N/A	N/A

The change in PBO, change in plan assets and funded (unfunded) status for those entities with pension plans were as follows:



For the years ended December 31,	2019			2018			2017
Change in PBO:
PBO at beginning of year	$	1,173		$	1,336		$	1,423
Service cost	63			77			75
Interest	119			118			126
Actuarial loss (gain)	408			(214		)	(171		)
Benefits paid by plan	(79		)	(90		)	(33		)
Curtailment gain	(200		)	(47		)	(153		)
Foreign exchange	66			(7		)	69
PBO at end of year	$	1,550		$	1,173		$	1,336
Fair value of assets at end of year	—			—			—
Unfunded status	$	1,550		$	1,173		$	1,336

Amount recognized in AOCI, pre-tax	$	(170	)	$	(610	)	$	(439	)

Accumulated benefit obligation	$	1,550		$	1,173		$	1,336

The estimated future benefit payments for the next 10 fiscal years are as follows:



For the year ending December 31,
2020	$	163
2021	173
2022	151
2023	147
2024	136
2025 through 2029	1,178

Laureate Education, Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan

Laureate maintains a deferred compensation plan to provide certain executive employees and members of our Board of Directors with the opportunity to defer their salaries, bonuses, and Board of Directors retainers and fees in order to accumulate funds for retirement on a pre-tax basis. Participants are 100% vested in their respective deferrals and the earnings thereon. Laureate does not make contributions to the plan or guarantee returns on the investments. Although plan investments and participant deferrals are kept in a separate trust account, the assets remain Laureate’s property and are subject to claims of general creditors.

The plan assets are recorded at fair value with the earnings (losses) on those assets recorded in Other income (expense). The plan liabilities are recorded at the contractual value, with the changes in value recorded in operating expenses. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, plan assets included in Other assets in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were $4,505 and $4,868, respectively, and the total plan liabilities reported in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were $6,835 and $7,047, respectively.

Supplemental Employment Retention Agreement (SERA)

In November 2007, Laureate established a SERA for one of its then-executive officers. Because Laureate achieved certain Pro-rata EBITDA targets, as defined in the SERA, from 2007 to 2011 and this officer remained employed through December 31, 2012, this individual received an annual SERA payment of $1,500. The SERA provided annuity payments to the former executive over the course of his lifetime, and, following the former executive's death in 2018, an annual payment of $1,500 will be made to his spouse for the remainder of her life. The SERA is administered through a Rabbi Trust, and its assets are subject to the claims of creditors. At the inception of the plan, Laureate purchased annuities which provided funds for the SERA obligations until the former executive's death, at which point proceeds from corporate-owned life insurance policies were received and will be used to fund the future SERA obligations.

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the total SERA assets were $12,494 and $13,721, respectively, which were recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets in Restricted cash at December 31, 2019 and 2018. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the total

SERA liabilities recorded in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were $14,244 and $14,278, respectively, of which $1,500 each year was recorded in Accrued compensation and benefits, and $12,744 and $12,778, respectively, was recorded in Deferred compensation.

Mexico Profit-Sharing

The Fiscal Reform that was enacted in Mexico in December 2013 subjects Laureate's Mexico entities to corporate income tax and also requires them to comply with profit-sharing legislation, whereby 10% of the taxable income of Laureate's Mexican entities will be set aside as employee compensation.