Which CMS Platforms Are Best in Class for Higher Ed Websites?
Taking on a college or university website redesign or migration? The content management system you choose will largely drive the success of your project — and the long-term satisfaction of your users and admins.
While many factors will influence your CMS decision, there are some general rules of thumb you can use as a starting point.
Smaller colleges with modest budgets typically look for open-source or low-cost platforms that offer flexibility, ease of use, and strong community support.
By contrast, larger institutions with many departments, microsites, legacy systems, and user roles often look for a scalable enterprise-grade solution that offers strong security, robust permissions and workflows, and seamless integrations with tools like third-party Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Student Information System (SIS), and Learning Management System (LMS) platforms.
The 5 Best .EDU CMS Options: What You Need to Know
Need just a quick overview of the top higher ed platforms? We’ve got you covered.
| PLATFORM | BEST FIT | PROS | CONS |
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| WordPress | Small to mid-size colleges & universities with limited digital/IT teams |
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| Drupal | Large higher ed institutions with expansive digital footprints |
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| Cascade | Colleges and universities with strong internal digital/IT teams that value flexibility, technical control & scalability |
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| Modern Campus | Mid- to large-size institutions with complex sites, multiple departments & contributors |
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| Sitefinity | .EDUs with Microsoft tech stack and/or those that need digital marketing integration |
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Ready to learn more? Let’s take a closer look at each platform in detail.
WordPress
If you work for a community college, liberal arts college, or regional university with a modestly sized digital team and budget, and you want to launch and manage digital content quickly and inexpensively without a heavy technical lift, WordPress may be the right CMS choice for you. Its flexible and user-friendly interface makes it easy for even non-technical faculty and staff to create and update content, while its vast plugin and theme library supports everything from blogs and events to multimedia campus life storytelling. Note: Even if your institution has a large and complex digital footprint, solutions like WordPress VIP or Multisite may be able to accommodate your needs.
WHICH .EDUS USE IT?
Cornell Law, Yale, and The Ohio State University
WHY THEY LOVE IT:
Across the board, WordPress gets high marks for its flexibility, cost, and ease of use.
CAVEATS:
While the WP core is “free,” costs can add up over time thanks to premium plugins and themes, ongoing hosting and developer support fees, and performance optimization efforts. Plan to spend extra time and effort on security and governance strategies as your .EDU scales.
Drupal
A highly customizable, enterprise-level CMS, Drupal is often a great fit for large universities and institutions with complex content structures and strong in-house dev and admin teams. It shines in environments where managing multiple languages, intricate user permissions, and deep content collections are a must. With its open-source flexibility and strong security features, Drupal is ideal for institutions that need custom integrations, structured content, and scalability across hundreds of sites or departments while maintaining central control. While not built exclusively for higher ed, many of its core features make it especially well-suited to college and university needs.
WHICH .EDUS USE IT?
Temple University, The University of Colorado (Denver & Anschutz campuses), Harvard, and MIT
WHY THEY LOVE IT:
Colleges and universities appreciate Drupal’s affordability, level of customization, and ability to support content needs that vary wildly across different campus departments and user types.
CAVEATS:
While the Drupal core is free, expect to experience higher initial development costs and a steeper learning curve when implementing Drupal when compared to WordPress.
Debating between these two open-source solutions? Read Drupal vs. WordPress to learn more.
Cascade
Cascade CMS was built specifically for higher education, making it a great fit for mid-sized to large institutions with many departments, subsites, and content editors. It offers both powerful back-end development capabilities and a clean, intuitive interface for non-technical content creators. With built-in workflow tools, multi-site management, and strong accessibility features, Cascade helps colleges and universities maintain consistent branding and content strategies even when site management is shared by multiple groups and departments across campus.
WHICH .EDUS USE IT?
Ole Miss, Princeton, and Auburn University
WHY THEY LOVE IT:
Higher ed institutions appreciate that Cascade was designed with their unique needs in mind, delivering features like multi-site management, workflow control, and accessibility tools that match how they operate.
CAVEATS:
Typical cost is $20K–$60K+ annually for subscription/licensing fee (depending on institution size, number of users/sites, support needs, and licensing terms). Plugins and extensions are limited, and custom development of templates, integrations, or front-end design requires knowledge of Velocity, XML, or JavaScript. If you don’t have an internal dev team, you’ll need to outsource some support.
Modern Campus
Modern Campus CMS (formerly OmniUpdate) was built for higher ed institutions that prioritize student engagement, marketing efficiency, and decentralized content management. With embedded tools for creating and managing course catalogs, faculty directories, and accessibility compliance, Modern Campus is an especially great fit for community colleges, liberal arts schools, and enrollment-focused institutions looking to modernize their digital experience without overloading internal IT teams that are often already operating at max capacity.
WHICH .EDUS USE IT?
Duquesne, Pepperdine, and Florida A&M University
WHY THEY LOVE IT:
Thanks to an intuitive, no-code interface and strong support and training, staff and faculty across many departments can easily maintain their own web pages while staying true to their institutional brand standards.
CAVEATS:
Typical cost is $30K–$90K+ annually for subscription/licensing fee (depending on institution size, number of users/sites, support needs, and licensing terms). Options for customization and advanced development are limited, which makes creating unique user experiences difficult without significant assistance from an external dev partner.
Sitefinity
This powerful enterprise-grade CMS is tailored for colleges and universities that need high performance and scalability while integrating with Microsoft-based systems. Its robust personalization tools, marketing automation features, and support for multilingual multi-site environments make it a solid choice for higher ed entities with .NET development resources and tech-savvy internal teams.
WHICH .EDUS USE IT?
The New England School of Law, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
WHY THEY LOVE IT:
Sitefinity’s simplicity means staff and faculty can easily make DIY content updates via secure permissions-based access. It also gets high marks for integrating easily with CRM, ERP, and other enterprise platforms and effectively delivering personalized online experiences that are 508 compliant out of the box.
CAVEATS:
Typical cost is $10K–$80K+ annually for a commercial license (depending on institution size, number of users/sites, support needs, and licensing terms). Because Sitefinity requires .NET development resources, flexibility and support options are limited so long-term costs can be steep for institutions without in-house technical expertise.
How Eastern Standard Can Help
Need support in choosing and implementing a new CMS or upgrade for your own higher ed website? Let’s work together.
