Acquisition Activity - Schedule of Fair Value of Identified Intangible Assets Acquired (Details) $ in Thousands	Jan. 01, 2022 USD ($)
Purchase Price Allocation
Intangible assets	$ 965
Customer contracts and relationships
Purchase Price Allocation
Useful life	2 years 6 months
Amount	$ 744
Curricula
Purchase Price Allocation
Useful life	3 years
Amount	$ 158
Trade name
Purchase Price Allocation
Amount	35
Accreditation and licenses
Purchase Price Allocation
Amount	$ 28
Trade name
Purchase Price Allocation
Useful life	1 year
Accreditation and licenses
Purchase Price Allocation
Useful life	2 years 6 months

Weighted average amortization period of finite-lived intangible assets acquired either individually or as part of a group of assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482665/350-30-50-1

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AcquiredFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsWeightedAverageUsefulLife
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph (a)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479907/805-20-50-5

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of intangible assets, excluding goodwill, acquired at the acquisition date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479907/805-20-50-1

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount of identifiable intangible assets recognized as of the acquisition date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 55
-Paragraph 37
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479303/805-10-55-37

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479907/805-20-50-1

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibles
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=apei_CustomerContractsAndRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=apei_CurriculaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TradeNamesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=apei_AccreditationLicensingAndTitleFourMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TradeNamesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=apei_AccreditationLicensingAndTitleFourMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: