Sectors & IndustriesConsumer DefensiveEducation & Training Services

Best Education Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top education stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best education stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best education stocks to buy right now are:

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) is the #1 top education stock out of 43 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 18 points higher than the education industry average of 30.

APEI passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. American Public Education has seen its stock return 18.49% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 91 percentage points.

American Public Education has an average 1 year price target of $63.75, an upside of 63.09% from American Public Education's current stock price of $39.09.

American Public Education stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering American Public Education, 75% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) is the #2 top education stock out of 43 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: B.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) has a Due Diligence Score of 51, which is 21 points higher than the education industry average of 30.

EDU passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has seen its stock lose -2.83% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 70 percentage points.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group has an average 1 year price target of $60.75, an upside of 13.32% from New Oriental Education & Technology Group's current stock price of $53.61.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering New Oriental Education & Technology Group, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Youdao (NYSE:DAO) is the #3 top education stock out of 43 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Youdao (NYSE:DAO) is: Value: D, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Youdao (NYSE:DAO) has a Due Diligence Score of 37, which is 7 points higher than the education industry average of 30.

DAO passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Youdao has seen its stock return 85.38% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 158 percentage points.

Youdao has an average 1 year price target of $22.00, an upside of 11.96% from Youdao's current stock price of $19.65.

Youdao stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Youdao, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 7 education stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 education stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Ihuman (NYSE:IH) has an annual dividend yield of 6.69%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.45%.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 4.53%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.45%. Strategic Education's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Strategic Education's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Strategic Education's dividend payout ratio of 39.1% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) has an annual dividend yield of 2.26%, which is the same as the education industry average of 2.45%.

Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio of 21.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Education stocks were up 0.91% in the last day, and down -3.05% over the last week. Lincoln Educational Services was the among the top gainers in the education & training services industry, gaining 24.58% yesterday.

Lincoln Educational Services shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 financial results and raised its FY26 sales guidance above estimates.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued education stocks right now are:

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) is the most undervalued education stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Phoenix Education Partners has a valuation score of 57, which is 29 points higher than the education industry average of 28. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Phoenix Education Partners's stock has dropped -41.54% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 31 percentage points.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) is the second most undervalued education stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Afya has a valuation score of 100, which is 72 points higher than the education industry average of 28. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -24.96% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 48 percentage points.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) is the third most undervalued education stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Perdoceo Education has a valuation score of 100, which is 72 points higher than the education industry average of 28. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Perdoceo Education's stock has dropped -10.59% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 62 percentage points.

52.94% of education stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect education stocks to rise by 46.16% over the next year.

0% of education stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 30.77% of education stocks are rated B (Buy), 61.54% are rated C (Hold), 3.85% are rated D (Sell), and 3.85% are rated F (Strong Sell).