The total cost of the acquired entity including the cash paid to shareholders of acquired entities, fair value of debt and equity securities issued to shareholders of acquired entities, the fair value of the liabilities assumed, and direct costs of the acquisition.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 51

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of acquisition cost of a business combination allocated to the current portion of long-term debt of the acquired entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 51

-Subparagraph e

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The number of businesses acquired by the entity during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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- Definition

Cash outflow representing an adjustment to the purchase price of a previous acquisition.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Acquisitions and Dispositions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 business	Jan. 02, 2011 business	Jan. 03, 2010 business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cost of acquisition	$ 136.5	$ 14.1	$ 26.1
Number of businesses acquired	5	6	3
Assumed debt	5.5
Acquisition In 2007 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Additional purchase consideration			$ 3.2
Kaplan International [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired	3	1	1
Kaplan Ventures [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired	1
Test Preparation [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired		2	1
Higher Education [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired	1
Newspaper Publishing [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired			1
Other Businesses and Cable Television [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired		2