Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Benefit Plans

Benefit Plans

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 $4,138, $4,636, and $5,431 for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Laureate Education, Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan

Laureate maintained a deferred compensation plan that provided 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 did 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. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the termination of this deferred compensation plan, with such termination effective April 1, 2021, and the participants will receive a distribution payout of their account balances in April 2022.

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, 2021 and 2020, plan assets included in Other assets in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were $1,924 and $3,055, respectively, and the plan liabilities reported in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were $5,104 and $6,192, respectively. The Company will fund the difference between the assets and the liabilities with operating cash flows.

Supplemental Employment Retention Agreement (SERA)

In November 2007, Laureate established a SERA for one of its then-executive officers, under which 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, 2021 and 2020, the total SERA assets were $9,539 and $11,037, respectively, which were recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets in Restricted cash at December 31, 2021 and 2020. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the total SERA liabilities recorded in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were $13,396 and $14,925, respectively, of which $1,500 each year was recorded in Accrued compensation and benefits, and $11,896 and $13,425, 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.