Business Segments (Information by Operating Segment) (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues	$ 925,343	$ 898,871	$ 874,411	$ 836,541	$ 867,242	$ 856,101	$ 867,152	$ 817,416	$ 3,535,166	$ 3,407,911	$ 3,372,586
Income (loss) from operations	146,222	81,281	101,560	78,869	97,424	78,889	96,122	46,734	407,932	319,169	148,613
Equity in earnings of affiliates, net	202	4,613	91,503	4,052	37	5,892	3,868	3,418	100,370	13,215	14,086
Interest expense, net									(34,450)	(33,803)	(32,551)
Other income (expense), net	387,346	64,526	268,114	133,273	(14,920)	8,110	(12,858)	(4,083)	853,259	(23,751)	(5,456)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	524,258	141,619	453,261	207,973	74,293	84,312	78,606	37,619	1,327,111	274,830	124,692
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	45,366	53,074	51,989	53,217	58,924	54,672	56,849	58,910	203,646	229,355	240,139
Amortization of intangible assets	5,251	7,405	2,995	2,717	3,359	2,468	2,950	3,362	18,368	12,139	19,510
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									35,670	15,389	131,103
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									17,302	3,250	111,593
Pension (Credit) Expense									(61,195)	(17,019)	(8,532)
Capital expenditures									222,794	220,112	209,203
Identifiable Assets	4,384,167				4,062,631				4,384,167	4,062,631
Investment in Marketable Equity Securities	193,793				487,156				193,793	487,156
Investments in Affiliates	19,811				15,754				19,811	15,754
Prepaid Pension Cost	1,152,488				1,245,505				1,152,488	1,245,505
Assets of discontinued operations	2,060				0				2,060	0
Total Assets	5,752,319				5,811,046				5,752,319	5,811,046
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									2,160,417	2,163,734	2,184,532
Income (loss) from operations									65,463	50,989	(106,424)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									61,737	89,622	101,009
Amortization of intangible assets									7,738	8,503	16,283
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									24,941	11,753	127,876
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									17,203	3,250	111,593
Pension (Credit) Expense									15,418	16,538	11,584
Capital expenditures									33,528	45,421	51,105
Identifiable Assets	1,781,543				1,921,037				1,781,543	1,921,037
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Higher Education [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									1,010,058	1,080,908	1,149,407
Income (loss) from operations									83,069	71,584	27,245
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									29,187	43,892	58,514
Pension (Credit) Expense									10,514	11,714	7,943
Capital expenditures									11,551	10,879	26,406
Identifiable Assets	749,421				859,208				749,421	859,208
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Test Preparation [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									304,662	293,201	284,252
Income (loss) from operations									(4,730)	4,118	(10,799)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									12,547	19,194	19,718
Pension (Credit) Expense									2,888	2,674	2,007
Capital expenditures									1,143	7,008	8,211
Identifiable Assets	167,055				173,435				167,055	173,435
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Kaplan International [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									840,915	783,588	741,826
Income (loss) from operations									69,153	51,653	47,120
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									19,297	16,154	20,975
Pension (Credit) Expense									356	363	189
Capital expenditures									20,802	27,472	16,728
Identifiable Assets	838,148				864,507				838,148	864,507
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Reportable Subsegments [Member] | Kaplan Corporate and Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									6,094	7,990	15,039
Income (loss) from operations									(82,034)	(76,701)	(171,036)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									706	10,382	1,802
Pension (Credit) Expense									1,660	1,787	1,445
Capital expenditures									32	62	(240)
Identifiable Assets	26,919				23,887				26,919	23,887
Operating Segments [Member] | Education [Member] | Intersubsegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									(1,312)	(1,953)	(5,992)
Income (loss) from operations									5	335	1,046
Operating Segments [Member] | Cable [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									798,134	807,309	787,117
Income (loss) from operations									178,722	169,735	154,581
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									128,733	128,184	129,107
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									181	220	211
Pension (Credit) Expense									3,585	3,708	2,540
Capital expenditures									165,787	160,246	150,525
Identifiable Assets	1,253,764				1,215,320				1,253,764	1,215,320
Operating Segments [Member] | Television Broadcasting [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									363,836	308,306	328,396
Income (loss) from operations									187,833	145,192	162,131
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									8,409	8,746	9,253
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									32	0	0
Pension (Credit) Expense									1,355	3,961	5,046
Capital expenditures									11,295	12,131	6,122
Identifiable Assets	305,426				383,251				305,426	383,251
Operating Segments [Member] | Other Businesses [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									212,907	128,803	72,837
Income (loss) from operations									(21,086)	(23,468)	(33,010)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									3,931	2,177	770
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									10,516	3,416	3,016
Pension (Credit) Expense									748	610	169
Capital expenditures									5,110	2,005	1,451
Identifiable Assets	518,807				171,539				518,807	171,539
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate Office [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									0	0	0
Income (loss) from operations									(3,000)	(23,279)	(28,665)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment									836	626	0
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets									0	0	0
Pension (Credit) Expense									(82,301)	(41,836)	(27,871)
Capital expenditures									7,074	309	0
Identifiable Assets	524,627				371,484				524,627	371,484
Intersegment Elimination [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Operating Revenues									$ (128)	$ (241)	$ (296)