Dispositions (Details) $ in Thousands						1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 29, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 11, 2020 USD ($)	Mar. 06, 2020 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2020	Jan. 10, 2020 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 HKD ($)	Jan. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) numberOfPerformanceMetrics	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Asset impairment charges											$ 323,398,000		$ 0	$ 350,939,000	$ 248,000
Gain (loss) on disposal of subsidiaries, net											(621,000)		1,474,000	1,178,000	$ 1,474,000
LEI Lie Ying Limited | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Final holdback payment							$ 18,300,000	$ 141,647
Amount receivable																	$ 25,900,000
Fundacion Educacion y Cultura | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Cash proceeds received		$ 195,300,000
Amount receivable		21,500,000
Cash and cash equivalents		288,000,000
Gain (loss) on disposal of subsidiaries, net		$ 344,500,000
Turkey Operations | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale | Turkey
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions										$ 15,000,000
Receivable agreement period										1 year
Turkey Operations | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale | Turkey | Subsequent Event
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Cash proceeds received						$ 8,436,000
Education Holding Cost Rica, S.R.L. | Costa Rica Operations | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions					$ 15,000
Asset impairment charges													$ 25,000
Gain (loss) on sale of business									$ 18,600,000
Proceeds from divestiture of businesses, net of cash divested												$ 1,800,000
Education Holding Cost Rica, S.R.L. | Costa Rica Operations | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale | Certain Performance Metrics
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions					$ 7,000,000		$ 5,000,000					$ 5,000,000
Contingent consideration period					2 years
Amounts of material contingent liabilities remaining					$ 30,000
Contingent consideration, performance metrics met | numberOfPerformanceMetrics												1
Exeter Street Holdings, LLC | NewSchool of Architecture and Design, LLC | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions			$ 1
Gain (loss) on sale of business											5,900,000
Ownership percent			100.00%
Consideration receivable											2,800,000			2,800,000
Receivable agreement period			4 years
Consideration, subsidies			$ 7,300,000
INTI Education Holdings Sdn Bhd | Malaysia
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Taxes withheld	$ 4,200,000
INTI Education Holdings Sdn Bhd | Affiliated Entity | Malaysia
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions	140,000,000
Gain (loss) on sale of business														45,200,000
Cash and cash equivalents	19,500,000
Receipts from sales, net of cash sold and property and equipment	$ 116,300,000
Taxes withheld											$ 420,000			$ 420,000
Percent of ownership of minority owner disposed of				10.10%
INTI Education Holdings Sdn Bhd | Affiliated Entity | Malaysia | Subsequent Event
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions																$ 13,700,000