Rights received by common shareholder for each common share outstanding, rights.

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Rights non-voting, redeemable days.

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Number of days, rights become exercisable following public announcement.

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Common shares received by holders upon surrender of rights, percentage.

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Right redeemable price, per right.

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Securities and assets of equivalent value, purchase price, per unit

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Rights Agreement, Triggering Event Voting Interest

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Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award, Market Paid Price Offering Date

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Aggregate dividends paid during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

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Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

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Amount of paid and unpaid common stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash, stock and payment-in-kind (PIK).

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Unrecognized cost of unvested share-based compensation awards.

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Weighted average period over which unrecognized compensation is expected to be recognized for equity-based compensation plans, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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- Definition

Face amount or stated value per share of preferred stock nonredeemable or redeemable solely at the option of the issuer.

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Date the equity-based award expires, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

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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.

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The maximum number of shares (or other type of equity) originally approved (usually by shareholders and board of directors), net of any subsequent amendments and adjustments, for awards under the equity-based compensation plan. As stock or unit options and equity instruments other than options are awarded to participants, the shares or units remain authorized and become reserved for issuance under outstanding awards (not necessarily vested).

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The number of shares into which fully or partially vested stock options outstanding as of the balance sheet date can be currently converted under the option plan.

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Amount of accumulated difference between fair value of underlying shares on dates of exercise and exercise price on options exercised (or share units converted) into shares.

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The weighted average grant-date fair value of options granted during the reporting period as calculated by applying the disclosed option pricing methodology.

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Amount by which the current fair value of the underlying stock exceeds the exercise price of options outstanding.

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Price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks of a company.

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Percentage of vesting of share-based compensation awards.

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Amount of difference between fair value of the underlying shares reserved for issuance and exercise price of vested portions of options outstanding and currently exercisable.

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Number of non-vested options outstanding.

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Weighted average remaining contractual term for option awards outstanding, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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Number of shares issued during the period as a result of an employee stock purchase plan.

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Amount remaining of a stock repurchase plan authorized.

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Shareholders' Equity (Narrative) (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands					12 Months Ended
	Jan. 06, 2017 $ / shares	Dec. 13, 2016 $ / shares	Jun. 22, 2016 $ / shares	May 25, 2016 $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) right / shares $ / right $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Weighted average fair value of stock options granted					$ 12.43	$ 12.16	$ 10.88
Unvested employee stock options outstanding \| shares					11,377,000
Unrecognized compensation cost from employee stock options \| $					$ 77,005
Weighted average period for recognition of unrecognized compensation cost					2 years 3 months 26 days
Total options that were exercisable \| shares					6,692,000	8,508,000	10,295,000
Options outstanding weighted average remaining contractual life, years					5 years 10 months 24 days
Total intrinsic value of options exercised \| $					$ 41,607	$ 76,676
Aggregate intrinsic value of options exercisable \| $					187,909
Total intrinsic value of options outstanding \| $					$ 321,528
Share price of SEI common stock					$ 49.36
Rights received by common shareholder for each common share outstanding, rights \| right / shares					1
Series A Junior Participating Preferred stock, par value					$ 0.05	$ 0.05
Securities and assets of equivalent value, purchase price, per unit					$ 150.00
Number of days, rights become exercisable following public announcement					10 days
Acquiring person, beneficial ownership of the outstanding common stock, minimum percentage					20.00%
Common shares received by holders upon surrender of rights, percentage					50.00%
Rights non-voting, redeemable days					10 days
Right redeemable price, per right \| $ / right					0.01
Dividends declared per common share		$ 0.28		$ 0.26	$ 0.54	$ 0.50	$ 0.46
Dividends paid per common share			$ 0.26
Dividends declared \| $					$ 86,657	$ 82,478	$ 77,158
Subsequent Event [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Dividends paid per common share	$ 0.28
Common Stock Buyback [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Remaining stock repurchase authorization amount \| $					$ 218,752
Minimum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Expiration date for options outstanding					Jan. 31, 2017
Maximum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Expiration date for options outstanding					Dec. 13, 2026
2014 Equity Compensation Plan [Member] \| Tranche One [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Vesting rate					50.00%
2014 Equity Compensation Plan [Member] \| Tranche Two [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Vesting rate					50.00%
Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Employee stock purchase plan, employee eligible percentage on offerings of common stock					85.00%
Shares reserved under the plan \| shares					15,600,000
Issuance of common stock under the employee stock purchase plan, shares \| shares					11,891,000