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 44 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% 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: A, and AI: C.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 12 points higher than the education industry average of 28.

APEI passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. American Public Education has seen its stock return 61.05% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 102 percentage points.

American Public Education has an average 1 year price target of $61.00, an upside of 20.13% from American Public Education's current stock price of $50.78.

American Public Education stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering American Public Education, 60% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 20% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) is the #2 top education stock out of 44 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 Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) has a Due Diligence Score of 36, which is 8 points higher than the education industry average of 28.

GHC passed 12 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Graham Holdings Co has seen its stock return 23.74% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 65 percentage points.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) is the #3 top education stock out of 44 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 Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has a Due Diligence Score of 64, which is 36 points higher than the education industry average of 28.

STRA passed 22 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Strategic Education has seen its stock return 5.58% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 47 percentage points.

Strategic Education has an average 1 year price target of $92.00, an upside of 11.57% from Strategic Education's current stock price of $82.46.

Strategic Education stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Strategic Education, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 33.33% 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 6.37%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 1.99%.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.91%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 1.99%. 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 dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) has an annual dividend yield of 1.85%, which is the same as the education industry average of 1.99%.

Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio of 21.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Education stocks were down -2.5% in the last day, and down -2.38% over the last week. Universal Technical Institute was the among the top losers in the education & training services industry, dropping -34.22% yesterday.

Universal Technical shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 sales results and cut its FY26 sales guidance below 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 0, which is -23 points higher than the education industry average of 23. It passed 0 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates PXED a Valuation Rating of "A".

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 77 points higher than the education industry average of 23. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -5.37% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 36 percentage points.

Mcgraw Hill (NYSE:MH) 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.

Mcgraw Hill has a valuation score of 14, which is -9 points higher than the education industry average of 23. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates MH a Valuation Rating of "A".

Mcgraw Hill's stock has dropped -12.43% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 29 percentage points.

47.06% of education stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect education stocks to rise by 30.04% over the next year.

4% of education stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 20% of education stocks are rated B (Buy), 64% are rated C (Hold), 12% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).