Earnings (Loss) Per Share - Summary of Earnings (Loss) Per Share Basic and Diluted (Details) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) numberOfClassesOfStock $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares shares
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Number of classes of stock \| numberOfClassesOfStock			2
Numerator used in basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share for continuing operations:
(Loss) income from continuing operations	$ (301,753)	$ 107,820	$ (177,671)	$ (9,249)
Net loss (income) attributable to noncontrolling interests	27	(6)	34	(49)
(Loss) income from continuing operations attributable to Laureate Education, Inc.	(301,726)	107,814	(177,637)	(9,298)
Accretion of redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interests and equity	201	194	157	457
Net (loss) income from continuing operations available to common stockholders for basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share	(301,525)	108,008	(177,480)	(8,841)
Numerator used in basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share for discontinued operations:
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax	(12,171)	30,280	(15,975)	93,609
Gain on sales of discontinued operations, net of tax	2,296	641,516	(19,666)	889,521
Loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	3,778	1,982	5,070	(997)
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations for basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share	$ (6,097)	$ 673,778	$ (30,571)	$ 982,133
Denominator used in basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic weighted average share outstanding \| shares	209,929	224,658
Basic and Diluted weighted average shares outstanding (in shares) \| shares	209,929	224,946
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share:
(Loss) income from continuing operations (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares	$ (1.44)	$ 0.48	$ (0.85)	$ (0.04)
(Loss) income from discontinued operations (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares	(0.03)	3.00	(0.15)	4.37
Basic and diluted (loss) earnings per share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares	$ (1.47)	$ 3.48	$ (1.00)	$ 4.33
Stock options, net of estimated forfeitures
Denominator used in basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
Dilutive effect of shares \| shares	0	25
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
Denominator used in basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
Dilutive effect of shares \| shares	0	263	209,863	224,656

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