The Pendleton School District serves 3,420 students in seven schools. There are 1,570 elementary children, 835 middle school students in grades 6 through 8, and 1,015 students at the senior high school in grades 9 through 12. The district has 195 teachers employed. The student teacher ratios are ideal with an average of one teacher for every 27 students in the middle and senior high schools and one to 25 at the elementary level.

The Pendleton schools have an outstanding music program with instruction in band, choir, and orchestra at the junior and senior high schools.

Nixyáawii Community School is a public charter high school located at the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton. It will have 110 students grades 9 through 12 when it reaches maximum capacity. Students from Pendleton, Pilot Rock, and Athena-Weston School Districts may attend the school because of Memorandums of Understanding between the districts and Nixyáawii.

The curriculum focuses on Native American culture, while using the Oregon State Standards as the guidelines for curriculum development. The languages of Umatilla, Walla Walla and Nez Perce/Cayuse are taught by the Tribal elder teachers. Project based learning provides an opportunity for students to interact with each other and community members.

Three institutions for higher learning exist in the Pendleton area including Eastern Oregon State College at La Grande (55 miles), Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington (42 miles). Blue Mountain Community College at Pendleton offers vocational and technical courses as well as a two-year transfer option.