Education stock photos and royalty free images

Finding high-quality education images is easy using Shutterstock’s search functionality. Begin by typing a keyword related to your search into the big search field. Our search will return images that broadly fit your category, and you can then begin refining the search using the filters on the left-hand side of the page. You can choose the orientation you want, the image type, the color scheme, even whether or not you want people in the image. If your first search doesn’t lead you to the image you had in mind, try another keyword until you narrow down your results. When you’re ready, licensing royalty free images is quick and painless. Simply click the big, red “download” button, and you’ll have your image in hand in only a matter of minutes, ready for print or digital projects.

Some of our most popular education images include schools, classrooms, universities, and students studying. These are all hallmarks of the education world, and they’re useful subjects when you’re looking for education images to use in your projects. Schools and educational buildings are familiar structures in most places around the world, so it’s easy for viewers to relate to them. Classrooms and students studying are among the most recognizable visual “stories” about education, so they’re popular selections when you need to send a message that clearly communicates “education”. Universities are also very popular selections because they capture the world of higher education.

Education images are engaging because they’re somewhat content neutral. They don’t have to take a stance on any particular issue, so people of all kinds can relate to the content. Many people consider education a rallying point for improving lives, helping children, or advancing careers — all of these are ideas that most people support. Further, because education is a common experience shared by many around the world, it’s easy to draw upon a viewer’s own experience with education to draw them into a visual story, an advertisement, a fundraising campaign, or any other call to action. Education images are largely positive in nature — they’re uplifting, and they speak to a brighter future, so it doesn’t take as much design work to build a message around them as another category of image might.

If you need to download some free education images, start with our collection here on this page. We’ve assembled some free education images to get you started. If there’s an image that isn’t in this collection that you would like to try, use the search field at shutterstock.com, filter your results, and when you find the image you would like to try, click on “Learn more” under “Get this image for FREE.” We’ll help you get started with a free trial subscription, and you’ll have your image in hand in only a few minutes. If you have a specific type of image in mind, but you don’t have the rights to it, simply click “search by image” to the right of the search field. Upload your image, and the Shutterstock image-reverse search will find similar images that you can license or try for free.

Educational images are great storytelling tools. Because education is generally a positive topic that appeals to viewers from all walks of life, they’re very useful when communicating about learning, growth, development, or similar topics. If you’re giving a presentation, they’re a great way to take a beat and give your audience something visual to focus on. If you’re creating advertisements or announcements, education images create a powerful sense of opportunity optimism that works very well in the marketing world (much better than negative images do). When you’re using educational images in storytelling, try to include some of the classics, like classrooms, schools, or textbooks, but be ready to include online learning, non-traditional students, or education outside the school environment.