Business and Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 Week State Attendant Facility Location	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 PEAKS Trust Student Loans [Member] Loan	Feb. 28, 2013 PEAKS Trust Student Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 PEAKS Senior Debt [Member]	Jan. 31, 2010 PEAKS Senior Debt [Member]
Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of students in degree programs	57,000
Number of states where online programs are offered	50
Number of locations	149
Number of campuses	147
Number of learning sites	2
Number of states	39
Number of training facilities	1
Restricted cash	$ 5,636	$ 3,478		$ 2,593	$ 1,703
Restricted cash in the variable interest entity	2,593
Escrow account balance	8,626	8,622
Number of loan pools				24
Senior debt in the aggregate principal amount						300,000	300,000
Number of weeks of tuition revenue reported per quarter	12
Number of weeks of school annually	48
Advertising expense	$ 177,791	$ 174,009	$ 192,080
Treasury stock, shares	13,698,716	13,744,395