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 46 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: B, 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 26 points higher than the education industry average of 25.

APEI passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. American Public Education has seen its stock return 126.89% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 85 percentage points.

American Public Education has an average 1 year price target of $35.67, a downside of -0.06% from American Public Education's current stock price of $35.69.

American Public Education stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering American Public Education, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% have issued a Buy, 16.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) is the #2 top education stock out of 46 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 Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 15 points higher than the education industry average of 25.

AFYA passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Afya has seen its stock lose -3.21% over the past year, underperforming other education stocks by -45 percentage points.

Afya has an average 1 year price target of $19.17, an upside of 20.02% from Afya's current stock price of $15.97.

Afya stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Afya, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Udemy (NASDAQ:UDMY) is the #3 top education stock out of 46 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 Udemy (NASDAQ:UDMY) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Udemy (NASDAQ:UDMY) has a Due Diligence Score of 22, which is -3 points lower than the education industry average of 25. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates UDMY as a "A".

UDMY passed 7 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Udemy has seen its stock lose -11.65% over the past year, underperforming other education stocks by -53 percentage points.

Udemy has an average 1 year price target of $9.71, an upside of 36.24% from Udemy's current stock price of $7.13.

Udemy stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Udemy, 28.57% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 28.57% have issued a Buy, 42.86% 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:

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the education industry average of 1.6%. 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 27.3% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.95%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 1.6%. 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 48.5% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) has an annual dividend yield of 1.54%, which is the same as the education industry average of 1.6%.

Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio of 22% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Education stocks were down -0.79% in the last day, and down -0.73% 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:

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 71, which is 51 points higher than the education industry average of 20. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -3.21% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the education industry by -45 percentage points.

Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) 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.

Graham Holdings Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 51 points higher than the education industry average of 20. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Graham Holdings Co's stock has gained 45.32% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 4 percentage points.

Mcgraw Hill (NYSE:MH) 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.

Mcgraw Hill has a valuation score of 0, which is -20 points higher than the education industry average of 20. It passed 0 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 "B".

50% of education stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect education stocks to rise by 9.52% over the next year.

20.69% of education stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 17.24% of education stocks are rated B (Buy), 48.28% are rated C (Hold), 10.34% are rated D (Sell), and 3.45% are rated F (Strong Sell).