Sectors & IndustriesConsumer DefensiveEducation & Training Services

Best Education Stocks to Buy Now (2025)

Top education stocks in 2025 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% 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 45 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

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

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) has a Due Diligence Score of 51, which is 23 points higher than the education industry average of 28.

APEI passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. American Public Education has seen its stock return 69.92% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 105 percentage points.

American Public Education has an average 1 year price target of $25.75, an upside of 9.57% from American Public Education's current stock price of $23.50.

American Public Education stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering American Public Education, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) is the #2 top education stock out of 45 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

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

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 25 points higher than the education industry average of 28.

PRDO passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Perdoceo Education has seen its stock return 37.27% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 72 percentage points.

Perdoceo Education has an average 1 year price target of $35.00, an upside of 39.33% from Perdoceo Education's current stock price of $25.12.

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

Adtalem Global Education (NYSE:ATGE) is the #3 top education stock out of 45 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Adtalem Global Education (NYSE:ATGE) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Adtalem Global Education (NYSE:ATGE) has a Due Diligence Score of 34, which is 6 points higher than the education industry average of 28.

ATGE passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Adtalem Global Education has seen its stock return 114.03% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 149 percentage points.

Adtalem Global Education has an average 1 year price target of $123.33, an upside of 16.13% from Adtalem Global Education's current stock price of $106.20.

Adtalem Global Education stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Adtalem Global Education, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% 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 5 education stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 education stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.94%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 1.33%. 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 49.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) has an annual dividend yield of 1.99%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 1.33%.

Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio of 21.3% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) has an annual dividend yield of 1.23%, which is the same as the education industry average of 1.33%. New Oriental Education & Technology Group's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. New Oriental Education & Technology Group's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group's dividend payout ratio of 25% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Education stocks were down -0.5% in the last day, and up 0.72% over the last week.

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

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:

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

Perdoceo Education has a valuation score of 71, which is 46 points higher than the education industry average of 25. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Perdoceo Education's stock has gained 37.27% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 72 percentage points.

Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) is the second most undervalued education stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Graham Holdings Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 46 points higher than the education industry average of 25. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Graham Holdings Co's stock has gained 31.18% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 66 percentage points.

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

Afya has a valuation score of 57, which is 32 points higher than the education industry average of 25. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has gained 10.27% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 45 percentage points.

43.75% of education stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect education stocks to rise by 13.69% over the next year.

11.11% of education stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 29.63% of education stocks are rated B (Buy), 51.85% are rated C (Hold), 7.41% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).