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Description of Business | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Description of Business | Description of Business Laureate Education, Inc. and subsidiaries (hereinafter Laureate, we, us, our, or the Company) provide higher education programs and services to students through licensed universities and higher education institutions (institutions). Laureate's programs are provided through institutions that are campus-based and through electronically distributed educational programs (online). In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we transitioned the educational delivery method at all of our campus-based institutions to be online, leveraging our existing technologies and learning platforms to serve students outside the traditional classroom setting. While our universities continue to deliver learning online, they also are focused on planning for a safe return to campus, when appropriate to do so. We are domiciled in Delaware as a public benefit corporation, a demonstration of our long-term commitment to our mission to benefit our students and society. The Company completed its initial public offering (IPO) on February 6, 2017 and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ‘‘LAUR.’’ Discontinued Operations In 2017 and 2018, the Company announced the divestiture of certain subsidiaries located in Europe, Asia and Central America, which were included in the following segments: Peru (formerly Andean), Central America (formerly Central America & U.S. Campuses), and Rest of World. The goal of the divestitures was to create a more focused and simplified business model and generate proceeds to be used for further repayment of long-term debt. This represented a strategic shift that had a major effect on the Company’s operations and financial results. Accordingly, all of the divestitures that were part of this strategic shift, which have now been completed, were accounted for as Discontinued Operations for all periods presented in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 205-20, “Discontinued Operations” (ASC 205). On January 27, 2020, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized the Company to explore strategic alternatives for each of its businesses to unlock shareholder value. As a result of these efforts to explore strategic alternatives, during the third quarter of 2020, the Company announced that it had completed a sale of its operations in Chile and had signed agreements to sell its operations in Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Walden University, its fully online higher education institution in the United States. This also represented a strategic shift that had a major effect on the Company’s operations and financial results. As such, Chile, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, and Walden also have been accounted for as Discontinued Operations for all periods presented in accordance with ASC 205. The sale of our operations in Australia and New Zealand was completed on November 3, 2020, the sale of our operations in Brazil was completed on May 28, 2021, and the sale of Walden University was completed on August 12, 2021. For Laureate’s institutions in Mexico and Peru, the board decided after a thorough evaluation of all strategic options, including a potential sale, to continue to operate these assets under Laureate management. Accordingly, Mexico and Peru represent our Continuing Operations. See Note 4, Discontinued Operations and Assets Held for Sale, and Note 5, Dispositions, for more information. Unless indicated otherwise, the information in the footnotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements relates to Continuing Operations.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122149 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479 + Details
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