“Education” ranks among the top five issue-related search terms that have led Internet users to the campaign Web sites of John McCain and Barack Obama in the second quarter of 2008, according to Hitwise, a New York-based company.

Hitwise analyzed the top 200 search terms that sent traffic to each candidate’s Web site. Education ranked second, behind abortion, in top political-issue search terms that sent people to Senator Obama’s campaign Web site. And education ranked fourth—behind health care, environment/global warming, and oil prices—that sent visitors to Senator McCain’s campaign Web site.

Education ranked higher among issue-oriented terms that sent Internet users to both candidates sites in the second quarter of 2008 than in the first three months of the year. In the first quarter of 2008, education ranked fourth among political-issue terms that sent visitors to Senator Obama’s Web site. The issue didn’t break into the top five issue terms among people visiting the Web site of Senator McCain.