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 43 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 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 "A".

MH passed 9 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Mcgraw Hill has seen its stock return 12.02% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 87 percentage points.

Mcgraw Hill has an average 1 year price target of $17.13, an upside of 40.25% from Mcgraw Hill's current stock price of $12.21.

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.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) 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 New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE:EDU) is: Value: A, 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 57, which is 28 points higher than the education industry average of 29.

EDU passed 21 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. New Oriental Education & Technology Group has seen its stock lose -14.71% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 61 percentage points.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group has an average 1 year price target of $60.75, an upside of 20.7% from New Oriental Education & Technology Group's current stock price of $50.33.

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 #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 Youdao (NYSE:DAO) is: Value: C, 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 8 points higher than the education industry average of 29.

DAO passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Youdao has seen its stock return 86.84% over the past year, overperforming other education stocks by 162 percentage points.

Youdao has an average 1 year price target of $22.00, an upside of 11.51% from Youdao's current stock price of $19.73.

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.

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 7.33%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.31%.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) has an annual dividend yield of 3.24%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the education industry average of 2.31%. 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.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.2%, which is the same as the education industry average of 2.31%.

Afya's dividend payout ratio of 13.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Education stocks were down -0.32% in the last day, and down -1.99% over the last week. Phoenix Education Partners was the among the top losers in the education & training services industry, dropping -2.17% yesterday.

Phoenix Education Partners shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 sales results and issued FY27 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:

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 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 -25.34% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 50 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 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".

Phoenix Education Partners's stock has dropped -35.03% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 40 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 gained 12.02% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the education industry by 87 percentage points.

58.82% of education stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect education stocks to rise by 36.52% over the next year.

3.85% of education stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 23.08% of education stocks are rated B (Buy), 65.38% are rated C (Hold), 3.85% are rated D (Sell), and 3.85% are rated F (Strong Sell).