Dispositions (Details) € in Thousands, R in Thousands, $ in Thousands																			1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 10, 2021 USD ($)	Aug. 12, 2021 USD ($)	May 28, 2021 USD ($)	Sep. 29, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 11, 2020 USD ($)	Mar. 06, 2020 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2020 USD ($) campus	Jan. 10, 2020 USD ($)	Nov. 01, 2019 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2019 USD ($)	Aug. 27, 2019 USD ($)	May 31, 2019 USD ($) company	May 09, 2019 USD ($)	Apr. 08, 2019 USD ($)	Feb. 12, 2019 USD ($) campus	Feb. 01, 2019 USD ($)	Jan. 25, 2018 USD ($)	Jan. 25, 2018 HKD ($)	Apr. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2021 HKD ($)	Oct. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 08, 2021 USD ($)	Nov. 03, 2020 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2020 USD ($)	May 31, 2019 EUR (€) company	Apr. 08, 2019 ZAR (R)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Contingent consideration recognized																								$ 6,500,000
Total Chile impairment																													$ (73,756,000)	$ (790,229,000)	$ (940,000)
Loss on disposals of subsidiaries, net																													(602,000)	(7,276,000)	(20,429,000)
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period																								345,575,000				$ 97,817,000	345,575,000	867,298,000	97,817,000						$ 125,617,000
Chile | Peru
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total Chile impairment																										$ (418,000,000)
Accumulated foreign currency translation gain (losses)																										(293,000,000)
Honduras
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total Chile impairment																									$ (10,000,000)	(10,000,000)
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents																								0					0	270,164,000
St. Augustine | 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																$ 400,000,000
LEI Lie Ying Limited | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																													13,600,000		13,700,000
Net proceeds from divestiture																			$ 21,650,000	$ 168,284
Amounts of material contingent liabilities remaining																	$ 14,300,000
Proceeds from second holdback payment																	$ 9,100,000	$ 71,463
Monash South Africa (MSA) | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions														$ 1,100,000																						R 15,000
Percent of ownership sold														75.00%
Disposal group, including discontinued operation, debt														$ 20,200,000
Monash South Africa Limited And LEI AMEA Investments B.V. | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net proceeds from divestiture														9,000,000
Sodecam - Sociedade De Desenvolvimento Cultural Do Amazonas Ltda | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions									$ 43,000,000
Gain (loss) on disposition of business									$ (300,000)
Dormant Subsidiaries | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Accumulated foreign currency translation gain (losses)																												$ 37,500,000
Laureate South Africa Pty Ltd (LSA) | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions														7,000,000																						R 99,000
ANZ Target Companies and Their Subsidiaries
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																													555,800,000
Net proceeds from dispositions																													624,200,000
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]
Net proceeds from divestiture					$ 195,300,000
Amount receivable, noncurrent					$ 21,500,000
Quarterly consideration receivable period					1 year
Cash and cash equivalents					$ 288,000,000
Loss on disposals of subsidiaries, net					$ (338,200,000)
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
Net proceeds from divestiture																					$ 11,436,000
Receivable agreement period																							1 year
Campus Guadalajara Norte Sale | 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																																	$ 13,900,000
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																													5,800,000
Net proceeds from divestiture																														7,000,000
Fundacion Nasser | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale | Chile
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from collection of notes receivable	$ 21,500,000
Fundacion Nasser | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale | Honduras
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions																																$ 24,000,000
Additional consideration paid held in escrow																																$ 2,000,000
Percentage of escrow funds released after 18 months																																50.00%
Percentage of escrow funds released after 24 months																																25.00%
Percentage of escrow funds released after 36 months																																25.00%
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																													(1,700,000)
Anima | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																													33,000,000
Net proceeds from divestiture			$ 625,000,000
Indebtedness assumed by buyer			$ 121,000,000
Walden e-Learning, LLC | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business		$ 619,400,000
Net proceeds from dispositions		1,403,500,000
Amount receivable, noncurrent																																$ 74,000,000
Restricted cash held in escrow, released		83,600,000
Estimated tax expense		$ 278,000,000
Exeter Street Holdings, LLC | St. Augustine | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																															$ 223,000,000
Net proceeds from divestiture																346,400,000
Net proceeds from dispositions																301,800,000
Disposal group, including discontinued operation, closing adjustments																11,700,000
Disposal group, including discontinued operation, debt																58,100,000
Disposal group, including discontinued operation, fees																$ 7,200,000
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 disposition of business																														$ (5,900,000)
Percent of ownership sold						100.00%
Consideration, subsidies						$ 7,300,000
Consideration receivable						$ 2,800,000
Quarterly consideration receivable period						4 years
Settlement of consideration receivable																													625,000
LEI Singapore Holdings Pte Limited, Laureate I B.V.,Laureate International B.V. | Pearl Retail Solutions Private Limited | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions													$ 145,600,000
Net proceeds from dispositions													$ 77,300,000
Percent of ownership sold													10.00%
Disposal group, including discontinued operation, closing adjustments													$ 145,800,000
Iniciativas Culturales de Espãna S.L., (“ICE”), and Laureate I B.V | Ensilis—Educação e Formação, Unipessoal, Lda | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions												$ 857,000,000																							€ 770,000
Number of companies | company												3																							3
Disposal group, including discontinued operation, debt												$ 109,000,000
Universidad U Latina, SRL and Education Holding Costa Rica EHCR, SRL | UIP. Excelencia y Superacion S.A. (EXUSA) | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions										$ 86,750,000
Net proceeds from dispositions										$ 82,000,000
Disposal group, not discontinued operation, percent of ownership disposed of										100.00%
Bilgi Egitim Ve Kultur Vakfi (Bilgi Foundation)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period											$ 89,000,000
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
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								$ 15,000,000
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																						$ (18,600,000)							(43,600,000)
Net proceeds from dispositions																										$ 1,800,000
Total Chile impairment																											$ 25,000,000
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
Contingent consideration, performance metrics period								2 years
Amounts of material contingent liabilities remaining								$ 30,000,000
Stamford International University | China YuHua Education Investment Limited
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions															$ 35,300,000
Number of campuses | campus															3
Stamford International University | LEI Singapore Holdings Pte Limited, Laureate I B.V.,Laureate International B.V.
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business														$ 2,300,000
Affiliated Entity | Laureate I B.V. | Education Turkey B.V. | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business										$ 21,000,000
Discontinued operation, tax (expense) benefit from provision for (gain) loss on disposal										$ 1,500,000
Affiliated Entity | Stamford International University | China YuHua Education Investment Limited
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions												2,800,000
Disposal group, contingent liability							$ 1,400,000								$ 4,200,000
Affiliated Entity | Stamford International University | LEI Singapore Holdings Pte Limited, Laureate I B.V.,Laureate International B.V.
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business													$ 19,500,000		10,800,000
Net proceeds from divestiture															22,200,000
Net proceeds from dispositions															18,800,000
Proceeds from divestiture, net of debt assumed by purchaser															$ 26,400,000
Affiliated Entity | Iniciativas Culturales de Espãna S.L., (“ICE”), and Laureate I B.V
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on disposition of business												615,000,000
Net proceeds from divestiture												906,000,000
Net proceeds from dispositions												760,000,000
Discontinued operation, tax (expense) benefit from provision for (gain) loss on disposal												$ 30,000,000
Affiliated Entity | Laureate I B.V. | Education Turkey B.V. | 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											90,000,000
Gain (loss) on disposition of business											(37,700,000)
Net proceeds from divestiture											$ 75,000,000
Percent of ownership sold											100.00%
Disposal group, contingent liability											$ 15,000,000
Affiliated Entity | INTI Education Holdings Sdn Bhd | Malaysia
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration received from dispositions				140,000,000																														$ 13,700,000
Gain (loss) on disposition of business																													47,900,000
Cash and cash equivalents				19,500,000
Deposit liability				5,000,000
Number of campuses | campus							5
Disposal group, not discontinued operation, percent of ownership disposed of							10.10%
Receipt from sales, net of cash sold and property and equipment				$ 116,300,000
Taxes withheld																								$ 420,000					$ 420,000