Discontinued Operations and Assets Held for Sale - Loss on Impairment of Assets and Pending Discontinued Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Sep. 30, 2020	Jun. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total Chile impairment						$ 73,756	$ 790,229	$ 940
Honduras
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total Chile impairment			$ 10,000	$ 10,000
Brazil
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairments of goodwill		$ 15,000	$ 190,000
Peru | Chile
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Accumulated foreign currency translation gain (losses)				293,000
Total Chile impairment				$ 418,000
Central America & U.S. Campuses
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total Chile impairment								$ 43,000
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of					$ 25,000
Rede Internacional de Universidades Laureate Ltda. | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale | Brazil | Anima
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on sale of disposal group	$ (32,400)