Consolidated Income Statements (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net revenue	$ 226,958	$ 194,127
Costs and expenses:
Instructional costs and services	94,654	78,687
Admissions advisory and related, including $294 and $505 to related parties for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively	29,544	28,333
Advertising	21,107	20,031
Marketing and promotional	2,242	1,694
General and administrative	10,720	9,396
Total costs and expenses	158,267	138,141
Operating income	68,691	55,986
Interest expense	(329)	(375)
Interest and other income	2,048	257
Income before income taxes	70,410	55,868
Income tax expense	26,745	21,689
Net income	$ 43,665	$ 34,179
Earnings per share:
Basic income per share	$ 0.96	$ 0.75
Diluted income per share	$ 0.93	$ 0.72
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	45,622	45,789
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	46,860	47,201

Admissions advisory and related expenses.

No definition available.

Name:	lope_AdmissionsAdvisoryAndRelatedExpenses
Namespace Prefix:	lope_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Costs directly attributable to educational services, including salaries and benefits for full-time faculty, administrators and academic advisors, and costs associated with adjunct faculty. Also includes costs for educational supplies such as books, costs associated with academic records and graduation, costs associated with collections from our students such as bad debt expense, and other university services such as evaluating transcripts.

+ References

No definition available.