Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2014	May 31, 2014	Feb. 28, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Aug. 31, 2013	May 31, 2013	Feb. 28, 2013	Nov. 30, 2012	Aug. 31, 2014 Customers	Aug. 31, 2013 Customers	Aug. 31, 2012 Customers
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Customers accounting for more than 10% of revenue									0	0	0
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue	$ 709,666,000	$ 793,610,000	$ 672,754,000	$ 848,148,000	$ 836,358,000	$ 937,171,000	$ 821,861,000	$ 1,040,534,000	$ 3,024,178,000	$ 3,635,924,000	$ 4,193,190,000
Operating income	41,990,000	116,324,000	10,296,000	170,361,000	38,550,000	134,797,000	30,118,000	230,927,000	338,971,000	434,392,000	676,368,000
Interest income									2,230,000	1,913,000	1,187,000
Interest expense									(7,914,000)	(8,745,000)	(11,745,000)
Other (loss) income, net									(547,000)	2,407,000	476,000
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									332,740,000	429,967,000	666,286,000
Depreciation and amortization									150,575,000	161,733,000	178,234,000
Capital expenditures									100,666,000	119,348,000	115,187,000
Goodwill and other intangibles impairment									0	0	16,788,000
Litigation credit, net	(800,000)	(4,100,000)	(9,000,000)		1,400,000		6,300,000	16,900,000	(13,900,000)	24,600,000	(4,725,000)
Assets	3,092,935,000				2,997,947,000				3,092,935,000	2,997,947,000	2,868,322,000
University Of Phoenix [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									2,632,949,000	3,304,464,000	3,873,098,000
Operating income									488,217,000	579,670,000	846,840,000
Depreciation and amortization									35,261,000	53,562,000	64,643,000
Capital expenditures									8,280,000	6,992,000	20,133,000
Goodwill and other intangibles impairment									0
Assets	824,895,000				790,537,000				824,895,000	790,537,000	901,180,000
Number of facilities									110
University Of Phoenix [Member] | Lease and related costs, net [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Accelerated depreciation									7,600,000	50,100,000
Apollo Global [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									338,008,000	275,768,000	269,541,000
Operating income									(74,189,000)	(59,936,000)	(66,964,000)
Depreciation and amortization									38,168,000	25,982,000	24,297,000
Capital expenditures									22,231,000	33,627,000	36,523,000
Foreign indirect taxes charge credit net									(11,000,000)
Goodwill and other intangibles impairment											16,788,000
Assets	680,363,000				359,903,000				680,363,000	359,903,000	376,071,000
Other [Member]
Segment reporting [Line Items]
Net revenue									53,221,000	55,692,000	50,551,000
Operating income									(75,057,000)	(85,342,000)	(103,508,000)
Depreciation and amortization									77,146,000	82,189,000	89,294,000
Capital expenditures									70,155,000	78,729,000	58,531,000
Litigation credit, net									(13,900,000)	23,200,000
Assets	$ 1,587,677,000				$ 1,847,507,000				$ 1,587,677,000	$ 1,847,507,000	$ 1,591,071,000