Exhibit 5.1

Hogan Lovells US LLP 1601 Wewatta Street Suite 900 Denver, CO 80202 T +1 303 899 7300 F +1 303 899 7333 www.hoganlovells.com

August 10, 2020

Board of Directors

Strategic Education, Inc.

2303 Dulles Station Boulevard

Herndon, Virginia 20171

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are acting as counsel to Strategic Education, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the public offering of 2,185,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Shares”), pursuant to the Company’s effective registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-241005) (the “Registration Statement”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), the accompanying prospectus dated August 5, 2020 (the “Base Prospectus”) that forms a part thereof, and the Prospectus Supplement dated August 5, 2020 (together with the Base Prospectus, the “Prospectus”). This opinion letter is furnished to you at your request to enable you to fulfill the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K, 17 C.F.R. § 229.601(b)(5), in connection with the Registration Statement.

For purposes of this opinion letter, we have examined copies of such agreements, instruments and documents as we have deemed an appropriate basis on which to render the opinions hereinafter expressed. In our examination of the aforesaid documents, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the accuracy and completeness of all documents submitted to us, the authenticity of all original documents, and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies (including pdfs). As to all matters of fact, we have relied on the representations and statements of fact made in the documents so reviewed, and we have not independently established the facts so relied on. This opinion letter is given, and all statements herein are made, in the context of the foregoing.

This opinion letter is based as to matters of law solely on the Maryland General Corporation Law, as amended. We express no opinion herein as to any other statutes, rules or regulations.

Based upon, subject to and limited by the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Shares are validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable.

This opinion letter has been prepared for use in connection with the Registration Statement. We assume no obligation to advise of any changes in the foregoing subsequent to the effective date of the Registration Statement.

Hogan Lovells US LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in the District of Columbia. “Hogan Lovells” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP, with offices in: Alicante Amsterdam Baltimore Beijing Birmingham Boston Brussels Colorado Springs Denver Dubai Dusseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Houston Johannesburg London Los Angeles Luxembourg Madrid Mexico City Miami Milan Minneapolis Monterrey Moscow Munich New York Northern Virginia Paris Perth Philadelphia Rome San Francisco São Paulo Shanghai Silicon Valley Singapore Sydney Tokyo Warsaw Washington, D.C. Associated Offices: Budapest Jakarta Riyadh Shanghai FTZ Ulaanbaatar Zagreb. Business Service Centers: Johannesburg Louisville. Legal Services Center: Berlin. For more information see www.hoganlovells.com

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as Exhibit 5.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof and to the reference to this firm under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus constituting a part of the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are an “expert” within the meaning of the Act.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Hogan Lovells US LLP

HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP