Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011	May 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010	Aug. 31, 2010	May 31, 2010	Feb. 28, 2010	Nov. 30, 2009	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2010	Aug. 31, 2009
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue	$ 1,122,121	$ 1,235,837	$ 1,048,629	$ 1,326,435	$ 1,259,420	$ 1,337,404	$ 1,070,336	$ 1,258,659	$ 4,733,022	$ 4,925,819	$ 3,953,566
Operating income	230,680	346,488	(23,040)	407,116	142,369	302,306	172,990	393,059	961,244	1,010,724	1,065,935
Interest income	587	867	785	983	636	827	525	932	3,222	2,920	12,591
Interest expense	(2,724)	(2,383)	(1,654)	(2,170)	(3,784)	(1,979)	(3,220)	(2,908)	(8,931)	(11,891)	(4,448)
Other, net	15	(1,862)	313	(54)	1,376	(1,312)	(79)	(670)	(1,588)	(685)	(7,151)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	228,558	343,110	(23,596)	405,875	140,597	299,842	170,216	390,413	953,947	1,001,068	1,066,927
Depreciation and amortization									159,006	147,035	113,350
Capital expenditures									162,573	168,177	127,356
Restructuring and other charges	19,067	0	0	3,846					22,913	0	0
Litigation (credit) charge, net	(16,454)	2,048	1,574	881	882	132,600	44,500	0	(11,951)	177,982	80,500
Goodwill and other intangibles impairment	0	0	219,927	0	175,858	8,712	0	0	219,927	184,570	0
Assets	3,269,706				3,601,451				3,269,706	3,601,451	3,263,377
University Of Phoenix [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									4,322,670	4,498,325	3,766,600
Operating income									1,270,468	1,447,636	1,131,331
Depreciation and amortization									53,681	50,770	59,337
Capital expenditures									53,801	39,623	49,031
Restructuring and other charges									22,900
Litigation (credit) charge, net											80,500
Assets	1,016,005				1,263,024				1,016,005	1,263,024	1,112,002
Bpp Apollo Global [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									244,181	251,743	13,062
Operating income									(224,335)	(186,552)	(6,607)
Depreciation and amortization									22,976	32,917	3,115
Capital expenditures									11,896	10,287	504
Goodwill and other intangibles impairment									219,900	175,900
Assets	303,107				511,124				303,107	511,124	778,416
Apollo Global Other [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									75,800	78,253	76,083
Operating income									(37,750)	(31,147)	(11,431)
Depreciation and amortization									7,570	7,998	6,801
Capital expenditures									8,943	5,994	6,490
Assets	146,490				116,483				146,490	116,483	148,125
Total Apollo Global [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									319,981	329,996	89,145
Operating income									(262,085)	(217,699)	(18,038)
Depreciation and amortization									30,546	40,915	9,916
Capital expenditures									20,839	16,281	6,994
Assets	449,597				627,607				449,597	627,607	926,541
Insight Schools [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Assets	0				0				0	0	26,590
Other Schools [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									88,517	95,706	95,045
Operating income									6,870	9,201	6,931
Depreciation and amortization									1,082	982	1,405
Capital expenditures									72	456	639
Assets	24,073				33,114				24,073	33,114	37,590
Corporate [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									1,854	1,792	2,776
Operating income									(54,009)	(228,414)	(54,289)
Depreciation and amortization									73,697	54,368	42,692
Capital expenditures									87,861	111,817	70,692
Litigation (credit) charge, net									(16,200)	178,000
Assets	1,780,031				1,677,706				1,780,031	1,677,706	1,160,654
Ula Apollo Global [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Goodwill and other intangibles impairment										$ 8,700