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:

Mcgraw Hill (NYSE:MH) is the #1 top education stock out of 42 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 Mcgraw Hill (NYSE:MH) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Mcgraw Hill (NYSE:MH) has a Due Diligence Score of 27, which is -2 points lower than the education industry average of 29. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates MH as a "B".

MH passed 9 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Mcgraw Hill has seen its stock lose -6.74% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 82 percentage points.

Mcgraw Hill has an average 1 year price target of $17.13, an upside of 33.16% from Mcgraw Hill's current stock price of $12.86.

Mcgraw Hill stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Mcgraw Hill, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 37.5% have issued a Buy, 12.5% 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 42 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: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) has a Due Diligence Score of 36, which is 7 points higher than the education industry average of 29.

GHC passed 12 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Graham Holdings Co has seen its stock lose -1.42% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 88 percentage points.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) is the #3 top education stock out of 42 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 Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) has a Due Diligence Score of 65, which is 36 points higher than the education industry average of 29.

AFYA passed 25 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Afya has seen its stock lose -14.79% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 74 percentage points.

Afya has an average 1 year price target of $21.00, an upside of 54.41% from Afya's current stock price of $13.60.

Afya stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Afya, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% 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 7.25%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.15%.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 3.01%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.15%. 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 1.9%, which is the same as the education industry average of 2.15%.

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

Education stocks were up 0.34% in the last day, and up 0.22% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why education stocks are up.

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 -26 points higher than the education industry average of 26. 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 74 points higher than the education industry average of 26. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -14.79% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 74 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 29, which is 3 points higher than the education industry average of 26. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Mcgraw Hill's stock has dropped -6.74% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 82 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 37.4% over the next year.

0% of education stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 28% of education stocks are rated B (Buy), 60% are rated C (Hold), 12% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).