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:

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) 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 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 20 points higher than the education industry average of 31.

EDU passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has seen its stock lose -0.47% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 74 percentage points.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group has an average 1 year price target of $60.75, an upside of 10.47% from New Oriental Education & Technology Group's current stock price of $54.99.

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 #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 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 6 points higher than the education industry average of 31.

DAO passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Youdao has seen its stock return 82.84% 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 11.62% from Youdao's current stock price of $19.71.

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.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) 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 Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: D, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) has a Due Diligence Score of 52, which is 21 points higher than the education industry average of 31.

PXED passed 20 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Phoenix Education Partners has seen its stock lose -40.82% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 34 percentage points.

Phoenix Education Partners has an average 1 year price target of $32.80, an upside of 67.43% from Phoenix Education Partners's current stock price of $19.59.

Phoenix Education Partners stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Phoenix Education Partners, 20% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 40% have issued a Buy, 40% 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 7.52%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.56%.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 4.6%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.56%. 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 2.31%, which is the same as the education industry average of 2.56%.

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

Education stocks were down -1.15% in the last day, and down -2.2% over the last week. Strategic Education was the among the top losers in the education & training services industry, dropping -10.72% yesterday.

Strategic Education shares are trading lower after BMO Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform rating and lowered its price target from $95 to $66, following the company's worse-than-expected Q3 financial results.

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:

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) 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.

Afya has a valuation score of 100, which is 71 points higher than the education industry average of 29. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -25.64% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 49 percentage points.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) 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.

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

Phoenix Education Partners's stock has dropped -40.82% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 34 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 71 points higher than the education industry average of 29. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Perdoceo Education's stock has dropped -9.77% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 65 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 48.85% 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).