Earnings Per Share - Summary of Elements Used in Calculating Basic and Diluted Earnings per Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income	$ 82,061	$ 31,368
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests – partially owned properties	(1,206)	(1,728)
Net income (loss) attributable to common unitholders	80,193	29,067
AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income	82,061	31,368
Series A preferred unit distributions	(14)	(31)
Amount allocated to participating securities	(662)	(573)
Net income (loss) attributable to common unitholders	$ 80,469	$ 29,196
Denominator:
Basic weighted average common units outstanding (in units)	137,945,644	137,696,323
Diluted weighted average common units outstanding (in units)	139,055,988	138,747,166
Earnings per unit:
Net income attributable to common unitholders - basic and diluted (in units)	$ 0.58	$ 0.21
Noncontrolling interests - partially owned properties | AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests – partially owned properties	$ (916)	$ (1,568)
Unvested restricted stock awards | AMERICAN CAMPUS COMMUNITIES OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
Denominator:
Unvested restricted stock awards (in units)	1,110,344	1,050,843