Top Drupal Distributions & Solutions for Higher Education

Many among the top 20 U.S. universities turn to Drupal for website ecosystems, with schools designing and building their own custom Drupal distributions, solutions, and environments:

• Stanford University, via Stanford Sites (built on the latest Drupal core) University IT
• Princeton University, through its Web Development Services platform for department sites Web Development Services
• Harvard University, with HarvardSites Drupal for scalable, accessible site management
• Yale University via the second-generation Drupal platform Yale Sites
• Duke University launched the SitesPro to speed the launch of new websites across the university 

While these universities have created their own Drupal platforms to build vast ecosystems of websites, a Drupal distribution can also be an excellent starting point for mid-sized colleges and universities. 

Top Drupal Distributions for Higher Ed Marketing Websites

Below is our list of the top Drupal distributions for higher education, including the only actively maintained, higher-ed–specific Drupal solution that bundles best practices, accessibility, content strategy, SEO, and governance into a cohesive launch pad: Drupal EDU Accelerator.

OpenEDU: Powered by Acquia Lightning — Inactive 

OpenEDU is designed to help colleges and universities launch full-featured websites quickly, without starting from scratch. It comes with ready-to-use page types for courses, news, events, and departmental overviews — so content teams can add and organize information right away. A simple drag-and-drop layout system lets editors build attractive homepages and landing pages without touching code.

Key extras like banner sliders, promotional blocks, and menu templates give sites a polished look out of the box. OpenEDU also integrates with common campus systems — such as alumni databases and directory services — to pull in staff profiles and contact details automatically.

Its last official release for Drupal 8 was in late 2018, the core ideas and design patterns continue to guide modern higher-ed web projects. For institutions still on Drupal 8, OpenEDU offers a full-featured baseline; for those moving forward, it provides a clear picture of what a comprehensive academic web platform can include.

Use Case: College and University Websites
Status: Inactive – No new releases since December 2018
Drupal Version: Drupal 8

Drupal EDU Accelerator

Schools need to get to market faster with new websites, but building from scratch in a CMS is costly and risky. Content teams can spend months wrestling with templates, module configuration, and integrations — time that could be invested in storytelling and student recruitment.

Drupal EDU Accelerator from OHO is a launch pad for higher education websites, informed by OHO’s experience deploying over 200 academic sites. It comes preloaded with the core functionality and content types marketers need to hit the ground running:

• General page templates
• News
• News Listings
• Events
• Events Listing
• Faculty Profiles
• Program Listings

Rather than reinventing the wheel, your team inherits a well-tested site architecture that incorporates best practices for content strategy, SEO, marketing, and governance. This Drupal solution allows marketing teams to focus on their content and optimizing their site for conversion

Features:

• Mobile and desktop ready
• LDAP integration for single sign-on
• Fully Accessible – meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA
• SEO-optimized out of the box
• Integrations with Slate and Salesforce forms

With comprehensive visual design and flexible theming, Drupal EDU Accelerators allows marketing and web teams to focus their budget on standout content and branding — not CMS build-out. Professional services also provide training to onboard your writing team and clear migration pathways from legacy systems. Pair Drupal EDU Accelerator with our Content Accelerator service, and you’ll have a modern, governed website live in weeks, not months. 
Use Case: Full college or university websites or intranets
Status: Active – maintained with quarterly updates and support
Drupal Version: Drupal 11

OpenAcademy – Inactive 

OpenAcademy gives academic departments a complete website starter kit built on Drupal 7. Editors get easy-to-use templates for news posts, event calendars, faculty directories, course listings, and image galleries. A visual page builder means you can arrange text, photos, and menus exactly how you want — no developer needed for everyday updates. It also supports smaller “sub-sites” for student clubs or research groups, so each team can manage its own content within the same overall framework.

The built-in mobile-friendly theme ensures your site looks great on phones and tablets. While Drupal 7 reached end-of-life in January 2025, many colleges still rely on OpenAcademy to power their department and program sites. Its straightforward setup and familiar tools make it easy for communications teams to take full ownership of their web presence.

Use Case: Department websites
Status: Inactive – No security updates since January 2025
Drupal Version: Drupal 7

OpenScholar – Sunsetting in November 2025

OpenScholar was created at Harvard University to help research centers, labs, and academic networks set up dozens — or even hundreds — of individual websites under one roof. Each site can have its own branding, pages for publications or project updates, and simple forms for collecting feedback or questions. Editors use drag-and-drop blocks to build pages, and built-in tools handle things like article workflows, SEO tags, and social media sharing.

The Drupal 7 version stopped receiving updates a few years ago, the team now offers a hosted service on Drupal 9+ that brings the same ease of setup and publishing to modern sites. Whether you need a quick microsite for a grant project or a full department portal, OpenScholar combines reliability with minimal technical overhead.

Use Case: Research centers, labs, and academic networks
Status: Active, but sunsetting – Distribution unmaintained (Drupal 7) and  hosted service active on Drupal 9+ – to be sunset in November 2025
Drupal Version: Drupal 7 (distribution) / Drupal 9+ (hosted)