Discontinued Operations and Assets Held for Sale - Loss On Impairment of Assets (Details) $ in Thousands		12 Months Ended
	Jun. 14, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) subsidiary institution	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of discontinued VIE institutions | institution		1
Long-lived assets		$ 1,199,219	$ 1,275,341
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairments of long-lived assets		43,284	$ 3,080	$ 33,476
Central America & U.S. Campuses
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of		$ 25,000
Central America & U.S. Campuses | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of subsidiaries with impaired long-lived assets (subsidiary) | subsidiary		2
Central America & U.S. Campuses | Tradenames
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of		$ 17,400
Rest of World
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Long-lived assets		0
Rest of World | Tradenames
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of		$ 16,100
Exeter Street Holdings, LLC
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Percent of ownership disposed of	100.00%
Consideration received from dispositions	$ 7,300
Affiliated Entity
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of campuses		5