CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Operating activities
Net income	$ 86,762	$ 119,124	$ 70,121
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Loss (gain) from disposition of real estate	53	(42,314)	632
Gain from insurance settlement	0	(1,245)	0
Gain from extinguishment of debt	(20,992)	(7,867)	0
Provision for impairment	17,214	0	15,317
Depreciation and amortization	275,046	263,203	234,955
Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt premiums/discounts	538	885	(2,871)
Share-based compensation	13,617	12,176	13,854
Income tax provision	1,507	2,429	989
Amortization of interest rate swap terminations	1,133	412	412
Termination of interest rate swaps	(13,159)	0	0
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Student contracts receivable, net	(5,407)	148	(414)
Other assets	(4,445)	(9,570)	2,502
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	(1,532)	31,299	(26,718)
Other liabilities	20,044	7,941	9,898
Net cash provided by operating activities	370,379	376,621	318,677
Investing activities
Proceeds from disposition of properties and land parcels	108,562	242,284	24,462
Cash paid for acquisition of properties and land parcels	(8,559)	(26,626)	(375,541)
Other investing activities	1,963	(1,669)	(5,608)
Net cash used in investing activities	(416,140)	(335,812)	(977,772)
Financing activities
Proceeds from unsecured notes	398,816	0	399,648
Proceeds from sale of common stock	0	0	190,912
Offering costs	0	0	(2,374)
Pay-off of mortgage and construction loans	(53,818)	(186,347)	(147,960)
Defeasance costs related to early extinguishment of debt	0	(2,726)	0
Proceeds from unsecured term loans	0	0	500,000
Proceeds from revolving credit facility	949,000	1,095,500	1,164,700
Paydowns of revolving credit facility	(910,600)	(835,800)	(1,136,400)
Proceeds from construction loans	31,611	100,882	40,170
Proceeds from mortgage loans	0	330,000	0
Scheduled principal payments on debt	(11,938)	(11,704)	(12,819)
Debt issuance and assumption costs	(6,462)	(656)	(12,060)
Increase in ownership of consolidated subsidiary	(105,109)	(10,486)	0
Contribution by noncontrolling interests	1,174	379,391	11,801
Taxes paid on net-share settlements	(3,975)	(2,756)	(4,920)
Distributions paid to noncontrolling interests	(9,487)	(153,841)	(77,243)
Distributions paid	(258,620)	(250,521)	(236,545)
Net cash provided by financing activities	20,592	936	676,910
Net change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	(25,169)	41,745	17,815
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period	106,517	64,772	46,957
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period	81,348	106,517	64,772
Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash to the consolidated balance sheets
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period	106,517	106,517	46,957
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities
Loans associated with investment in joint ventures	0	0	(104,056)
Conversion of common and preferred operating partnership units to common stock	6,077	13,332	154
Non-cash contribution from noncontrolling interest	0	(8,729)	(159,247)
Non-cash consideration exchanged in purchase of land parcel	0	0	(3,071)
Accrued development costs and capital expenditures	37,260	54,975	50,714
Change in fair value of derivative instruments, net	(523)	(2,108)	954
Change in fair value of redeemable noncontrolling interest	(14,350)	(66,079)	9,172
Change in ownership of consolidated subsidiary	0	(175,529)	0
Initial recognition of operating lease right of use assets	463,445	0	0
Initial recognition of operating lease liabilities	462,495	0	0
Non-cash extinguishment of debt, including accrued interest	(34,570)	0	0
Net assets surrendered in conjunction with extinguishment of debt	13,578	0	0
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
Interest paid, net of amounts capitalized	114,450	101,841	72,407
Income taxes paid	3,041	1,060	1,053
Owned Properties
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	(70,846)	(70,809)	(82,722)
Owned properties under development
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	(444,362)	(475,338)	(534,830)
On-campus participating properties, net
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	(2,898)	(3,654)	(3,533)
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
Operating activities
Net income	86,762	119,124	70,121
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Loss (gain) from disposition of real estate	53	(42,314)	632
Gain from insurance settlement	0	(1,245)	0
Gain from extinguishment of debt	(20,992)	(7,867)	0
Provision for impairment	17,214	0	15,317
Depreciation and amortization	275,046	263,203	234,955
Amortization of deferred financing costs and debt premiums/discounts	538	885	(2,871)
Share-based compensation	13,617	12,176	13,854
Income tax provision	1,507	2,429	989
Amortization of interest rate swap terminations	1,133	412	412
Termination of interest rate swaps	(13,159)	0	0
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Student contracts receivable, net	(5,407)	148	(414)
Other assets	(4,445)	(9,570)	2,502
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	(1,532)	31,299	(26,718)
Other liabilities	20,044	7,941	9,898
Net cash provided by operating activities	370,379	376,621	318,677
Investing activities
Proceeds from disposition of properties and land parcels	108,562	242,284	24,462
Cash paid for acquisition of properties and land parcels	(8,559)	(26,626)	(375,541)
Other investing activities	1,963	(1,669)	(5,608)
Net cash used in investing activities	(416,140)	(335,812)	(977,772)
Financing activities
Proceeds from unsecured notes	398,816	0	399,648
Proceeds from issuance of common units in exchange for contributions, net	0	0	188,538
Pay-off of mortgage and construction loans	(53,818)	(186,347)	(147,960)
Defeasance costs related to early extinguishment of debt	0	(2,726)	0
Proceeds from unsecured term loans	0	0	500,000
Proceeds from revolving credit facility	949,000	1,095,500	1,164,700
Paydowns of revolving credit facility	(910,600)	(835,800)	(1,136,400)
Proceeds from construction loans	31,611	100,882	40,170
Proceeds from mortgage loans	0	330,000	0
Scheduled principal payments on debt	(11,938)	(11,704)	(12,819)
Debt issuance and assumption costs	(6,462)	(656)	(12,060)
Increase in ownership of consolidated subsidiary	(105,109)	(10,486)	0
Contribution by noncontrolling interests	1,174	379,391	11,801
Taxes paid on net-share settlements	(3,975)	(2,756)	(4,920)
Net cash provided by financing activities	20,592	936	676,910
Net change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	(25,169)	41,745	17,815
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period	106,517	64,772	46,957
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period	81,348	106,517	64,772
Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash to the consolidated balance sheets
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period	81,348	64,772	64,772
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities
Loans associated with investment in joint ventures	0	0	(104,056)
Conversion of common and preferred operating partnership units to common stock	6,077	13,332	154
Non-cash contribution from noncontrolling interest	0	(8,729)	(159,247)
Non-cash consideration exchanged in purchase of land parcel	0	0	(3,071)
Accrued development costs and capital expenditures	37,260	54,975	50,714
Change in fair value of derivative instruments, net	(523)	(2,108)	954
Change in fair value of redeemable noncontrolling interest	(14,350)	(66,079)	9,172
Change in ownership of consolidated subsidiary	0	(175,529)	0
Initial recognition of operating lease right of use assets	463,445	0	0
Initial recognition of operating lease liabilities	462,495	0	0
Non-cash extinguishment of debt, including accrued interest	34,570	0	0
Net assets surrendered in conjunction with extinguishment of debt	(13,578)	0	0
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
Interest paid, net of amounts capitalized	114,450	101,841	72,407
Income taxes paid	3,041	1,060	1,053
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP | Common and preferred units
Financing activities
Distributions paid	(257,780)	(250,515)	(236,905)
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP | Unvested restricted Awards
Financing activities
Distributions paid	(1,902)	(1,522)	(1,536)
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP | Partially owned properties
Financing activities
Distributions paid	(8,425)	(152,325)	(75,347)
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP | Owned Properties
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	(70,846)	(70,809)	(82,722)
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP | Owned properties under development
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	(444,362)	(475,338)	(534,830)
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP | On-campus participating properties, net
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	(2,898)	(3,654)	(3,533)
Term loans
Financing activities
Pay-off of unsecured term loans	0	(450,000)	0
Term loans | AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
Financing activities
Pay-off of unsecured term loans	$ 0	$ (450,000)	$ 0