Consolidated Income Statements (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net revenue	$ 236,209	$ 210,444	$ 702,716	$ 628,681
Costs and expenses:
Instructional costs and services	104,303	91,748	301,907	271,001
Admissions advisory and related	31,426	28,814	94,483	87,224
Advertising	25,523	23,896	74,930	67,152
Marketing and promotional	2,350	2,127	7,074	6,477
General and administrative	12,915	13,430	32,914	32,959
Lease termination costs		3,363		3,363
Total costs and expenses	176,517	163,378	511,308	468,176
Operating income	59,692	47,066	191,408	160,505
Interest expense	(567)	(344)	(1,642)	(831)
Interest and other income	1,445	(2,291)	2,186	50
Income before income taxes	60,570	44,431	191,952	159,724
Income tax expense	21,266	15,187	56,889	59,189
Net income	$ 39,304	$ 29,244	$ 135,063	$ 100,535
Earnings per share:
Basic income per share	$ 0.83	$ 0.63	$ 2.87	$ 2.19
Diluted income per share	$ 0.81	$ 0.62	$ 2.80	$ 2.14
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	47,316	46,231	47,083	45,953
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	48,292	47,175	48,197	47,009

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.