Acquisitions (Details)	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2013 Current Portion [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] ZAR	May 20, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] USD ($)	May 20, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Designations [Member] USD ($)	May 20, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Trademarks [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Curriculum [Member]	May 20, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Curriculum [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Customer relationships [Member]	May 20, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Customer relationships [Member] USD ($)	May 20, 2014 Milpark Education [Member] Accreditation [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] AUD	Aug. 31, 2014 Open Colleges [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] AUD	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Designations [Member]	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Designations [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Trademarks [Member]	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Trademarks [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Curriculum [Member]	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Curriculum [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Customer relationships [Member]	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Customer relationships [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Accreditation [Member]	Dec. 20, 2013 Open Colleges [Member] Accreditation [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 Open Colleges [Member] Current Portion [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 20, 2014 Open Colleges [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] AUD	Nov. 30, 2011 Carnegie Learning Aquisition [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 12, 2011 Carnegie Learning Aquisition [Member] USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2011 Carnegie Mellon Technology Aquisition [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 Carnegie Mellon Technology Aquisition [Member] Other [Member]
Purchase price allocation [Line Items]
Percentage of shares acquired							81.00%											70.00%	70.00%
Initial cash payment					$ 26,000,000	265,000,000									$ 98,100,000	110,300,000
Contingent consideration maximum																	49,000,000		52,500,000.0
Fair value of contingent consideration					0										(21,371,000)		(21,371,000)
Contingent consideration paid																															37,800,000
Contingent consideration				0																										35,239,000
Transaction costs							700,000											3,600,000
Net working capital deficit							(307,000)											(10,979,000)
Property and equipment							518,000											2,684,000
Finite-lived intangibles								0			1,203,000		2,149,000								20,652,000		17,919,000		15,790,000		5,238,000		976,000				37,000,000
Finite-lived intangible assets, useful life	5 years 9 months 18 days									2 years		2 years 6 months 11 days								5 years		10 years		4 years		1 year		4 years
Finite-lived Intangible Assets Acquired																																14,400,000
Indefinite-lived intangibles									5,778,000					1,270,000																			14,100,000
Tangible assets (net of acquired liabilities)																																	(10,894,000)
Goodwill	259,901,000	103,620,000	103,345,000				22,227,000											127,656,000															34,794,000
Deferred taxes, net							(2,818,000)											(9,279,000)
Total assets acquired and liabilities assumed							30,020,000											170,657,000															75,000,000
Fair value of redeemable noncontrolling interests							(2,669,000)											(51,197,000)
Fair value of consideration transferred							27,351,000											119,460,000
Less: Cash acquired							(2,834,000)											(3,152,000)															(1,264,000)
Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired	119,454,000	0	73,736,000		24,517,000										94,937,000																	73,736,000
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life					2 years 3 months 18 days	2 years 3 months 18 days									5 years 10 months 24 days	5 years 10 months 24 days																5 years
Assumed liabilities							6,000,000											33,000,000
Debt term																																			10 years
Amount payable for acquired technology																																		$ 21,500,000