Financial Instruments (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
Feb. 28, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	1,060,192	$ 1,728,919
Unrealized gains	149	280
Unrealized losses	(435)	(968)
Fair value	1,059,906us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecurities	1,728,231us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecurities
Cash and cash equivalents	791,065	1,452,948
Current marketable securities	193,745us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesCurrent	187,472us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesCurrent
Noncurrent marketable securities	75,096us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesNoncurrent	87,811us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesNoncurrent
Maximum [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Marketable securities maturities	3 years
Cash [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	657,122	1,295,395
Unrealized gains	0	0
Unrealized losses	0	0
Fair value	657,122	1,295,395
Cash and cash equivalents	657,122	1,295,395
Current marketable securities	0	0
Noncurrent marketable securities	0	0
Money market funds [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	108,666	132,508
Unrealized gains	0	0
Unrealized losses	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	108,666	132,508
Current marketable securities	0	0
Noncurrent marketable securities	0	0
Corporate bonds [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	128,979	106,575
Unrealized gains	62	123
Unrealized losses	(180)	(52)
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Current marketable securities	80,069	56,837
Noncurrent marketable securities	48,792	49,809
Tax-exempt municipal bonds [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	76,244	106,543
Unrealized gains	79	155
Unrealized losses	(199)	(11)
Cash and cash equivalents	202	0
Current marketable securities	63,479	78,443
Noncurrent marketable securities	12,443	28,244
Time deposits [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	50,180	50,100
Unrealized gains	0	0
Unrealized losses	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	25,075	25,041
Current marketable securities	25,105	25,059
Noncurrent marketable securities	0	0
Commercial paper [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost		11,793
Unrealized gains		1
Unrealized losses		0
Cash and cash equivalents		0
Current marketable securities		11,794
Noncurrent marketable securities		0
Other [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost	39,001	19,155
Unrealized gains	8	1
Unrealized losses	(56)	(1)
Cash and cash equivalents	0	4
Current marketable securities	25,092	15,339
Noncurrent marketable securities	13,861	3,812
Auction-rate securities [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Amortized cost		6,850
Unrealized gains		0
Unrealized losses		(904)
Cash and cash equivalents		0
Current marketable securities		0
Noncurrent marketable securities		5,946
Level 1 [Member] \| Money market funds [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value	108,666	132,508
Level 2 [Member] \| Corporate bonds [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value	128,861	106,646
Level 2 [Member] \| Tax-exempt municipal bonds [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value	76,124	106,687
Level 2 [Member] \| Time deposits [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value	50,180	50,100
Level 2 [Member] \| Commercial paper [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value		11,794
Level 2 [Member] \| Other [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value	38,953	19,155
Level 3 [Member] \| Auction-rate securities [Member]
Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Fair value		$ 5,946

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash and Restricted Cash Equivalents, at Carrying Value

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Includes the carrying value of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, current marketable securities and noncurrent marketable securities.

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The time period that marketable securities are scheduled to mature

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Amount of investment in debt and equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

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Amount before tax of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investments in debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale.

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Amount before tax of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investments in debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale.

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Fair value portion of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates.

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Amount of investments in debt and equity securities, including, but not limited to, held-to-maturity, trading and available-for-sale expected to be converted to cash, sold or exchanged within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

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Total debt and equity financial instruments including: (1) securities held-to-maturity and (2) securities available-for-sale that will be held for the long-term.

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