Goodwill and Intangible Assets (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2010
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	$ 155,375	$ 190,837
Accumulated amortization	(30,558)	(28,272)
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(3,700)	(11,972)
Intangible assets, net	121,117	150,593
Bpp Apollo Global [Member] | Finite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets impairment		2,000
Finite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	49,070	61,502
Accumulated amortization	(30,558)	(28,272)
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(2,872)	(4,281)
Intangible assets, net	15,640	28,949
Student and customer relationships [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	9,477	19,935
Accumulated amortization	(6,538)	(12,891)
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(1,284)	(1,624)
Intangible assets, net	1,655	5,420
Copyrights [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	20,891	20,891
Accumulated amortization	(11,521)	(6,039)
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(422)	(1,066)
Intangible assets, net	8,948	13,786
Other finite-lived intangibles [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	18,702	20,676
Accumulated amortization	(12,499)	(9,342)
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(1,166)	(1,591)
Intangible assets, net	5,037	9,743
Bpp Apollo Global [Member] | Indefinite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets impairment		17,600
Ula and Uniacc [Member] | Indefinite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, net	7,800
Indefinite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	106,305	129,335
Accumulated amortization	0	0
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(828)	(7,691)
Intangible assets, net	105,477	121,644
Bpp Apollo Global [Member] | Trademarks [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets impairment	22,253
Trademarks [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	98,849	121,879
Accumulated amortization	0	0
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(737)	(7,191)
Intangible assets, net	98,112	114,688
Accreditations and designations [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	7,456	7,456
Accumulated amortization	0	0
Effect of foreign currency translation loss	(91)	(500)
Intangible assets, net	7,365	6,956
Bpp Apollo Global [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, net	110,400
Intangible assets impairment	$ 22,200	$ 19,600