If you’re searching for the best WordPress university themes for your educational institution, our curated list will help you skip straight to the top options.
Below, we’ve collected 12 different university themes that cover a range of styles and use cases. Some use the native WordPress theme customization functionality, while others are powered by page builders like Elementor for easy drag-and-drop customization. We’ve even included one university block theme that lets you use the new WordPress Site Editor experience.
For each theme, we’ll include a screenshot, key features, and pricing information. Let’s dive right in.
12 best education and university WordPress themes
Here are the 12 university WordPress themes that we’ve curated – keep reading for more information on each theme:
1. EduBlock
EduBlock is a freemium WordPress university theme from WPZOOM, a WordPress theme shop founded by Pavel Ciorici.
The most unique thing about EduBlock is that it’s specifically built to use the new WordPress Site Editor, also known as Full-Site Editing (FSE). This means that you can design and customize every single part of your university’s website using blocks.
Beyond that, it comes with a clean, modern design, along with lots of block patterns, page layouts, and color schemes to help you customize the design for your university.
Key features
- Built for the WordPress Site Editor. You can customize every part of your university website using the Block Editor. You might also see this known as Full-Site Editing (FSE).
- Page templates for important pages. You’ll find pre-designed templates for academics, campus, events, and other essential university pages.
- 20+ custom block patterns. You can use these when creating important content for your university site.
- Multiple header and footer layouts. You can easily apply these layouts to some or all of your site via the Site Editor.
- Multiple color themes. You can choose from six pre-configured color schemes. You can also customize those colors using the Site Editor or create your own color schemes from scratch.
Pricing
EduBlock comes in both a free and a premium version. The premium version adds a number of new block patterns, page layouts, header/footer layouts, and color schemes that you can use to more easily customize your university website.
If you want to use EduBlock Pro, the premium version costs $69 for one year of support and updates or $179 for lifetime support and updates.
2. Astra
Astra is not a dedicated WordPress university theme. Instead, it’s a multipurpose WordPress theme that includes hundreds of starter sites that you can import. In fact, it’s one of the most popular WordPress themes in existence.
This huge library of starter sites includes two different dedicated university demos. There’s the Pearson College demo pictured above, as well as the Sierra University demo. Beyond that, there are also a few other education-focused designs that could work for a university, such as the School demo.
Key features
- Multiple university starter sites. While you could always use Astra to design your site from scratch, it also includes multiple importable starter sites for universities.
- Flexible Customizer controls. You get detailed options in the native Customizer to adjust every part of your website.
- Popular and well-established. Because Astra is one of the most popular themes in existence, you can be confident that it will be there for the long haul.
- Lightweight and performance-optimized. Based on our hands-on testing, Astra is one of the fastest WordPress themes out there.
- Multisite compatibility.
Pricing
While Astra does have a free version at WordPress.org, you’ll need at least the Essential Toolkit license to access the Sierra University and Pearson College demo sites. The School demo site is available with the free version, though.
The Essential Toolkit license costs $79 for one year of support and updates or $399 for lifetime support and updates.
3. Neve
Like the Astra theme above, Neve is another lightweight multipurpose theme that includes a dedicated University starter site as part of its large library of importable starter sites.
Using Neve’s flexible WordPress Customizer controls, you can easily adapt the starter site design to your university’s needs. Neve’s performance-focused approach also helps ensure that your university website will load quickly.
Key features
- Dedicated university starter site. While Neve is flexible enough that you could design your site from scratch, it also includes a dedicated university starter site to help you save time.
- Flexible Customizer controls. You can customize pretty much every part of your site using code-free controls.
- Lightweight and performance-optimized. Like the Astra theme, Neve was one of the fastest performers in our hands-on speed theme tests.
- Multisite compatibility.
Pricing
While Neve has a free version at WordPress.org, you will need at least the Business license if you want to access the premade University starter site.
The Business license is discounted to $149 for the first year of support and updates. However, if you wish to continue receiving support and updates past the first year, the license will renew at $299.
4. University (Cactus Themes)
The aptly named University theme from Cactus Themes is a premium theme that’s racked up over 6,000 sales at Envato’s ThemeForest marketplace, which makes it one of the most popular university themes on that platform.
The theme comes with seven different demo sites, along with a built-in page builder plugin so that you can easily customize all of the designs for your own.
Key features
- 7+ importable starter sites. You can choose the best starting point for your university and then customize it to your needs.
- WPBakery Page Builder included. The built-in page builder lets you customize the demo content using a visual, drag-and-drop interface.
- Course list and event templates. University includes designs to help you list courses and upcoming events for your university.
- Custom theme options area. The theme includes its own theme options area rather than using the WordPress Customizer.
- Well-established. This is one of the most popular university themes at ThemeForest and it has received regular updates since its launch all the way back in 2014.
Pricing
The University theme costs $45 for lifetime updates for a single site and six months of support. You can upgrade the support period to a year for an additional $12.38.
5. Acadia
Acadia is a premium WordPress education theme from Theme Pure. While some of its pre-built starter sites are designed for people building online courses, it also includes a dedicated university starter site, which is pictured above.
All of Acadia’s starter sites are built with Elementor, which allows for easy code-free customization. In addition to full-page Elementor layouts, it also comes with block templates for Elementor, which can help you more easily create your own unique designs.
Key features
- 8+ importable starter sites. This library includes a dedicated university starter site, which you can see in the screenshot above.
- Elementor-powered designs. All of Acadia’s starter sites are built with Elementor, so you can easily customize them using Elementor’s visual, drag-and-drop builder.
- Custom Elementor widgets. You get 80+ custom Elementor widgets to help you design your site, along with custom block templates.
- Multiple header/footer layouts. You get access to 11+ premade header layouts and 11+ premade footer layouts.
- Multisite compatibility.
Pricing
The Acadia theme costs $39, which gets you lifetime updates for a single site and six months of support. You can extend the support period to a full year for an extra $10.13.
6. Academica
Academica is another university WordPress theme from WPZOOM, which is the same company behind the EduBlock theme above.
However, unlike EduBlock’s Site Editor approach, Academica is built to work with the WordPress Customizer. You can use the Customizer to control the entire design, or it also includes one starter site built with Elementor If you choose to use the Elementor starter site, you’ll be able to customize all of the starter content using Elementor, including the header area.
The screenshot above showcases the Elementor starter site. The other starter site uses a different design.
Key features
- Built for the WordPress Customizer. If you use the older starter site, you’ll be able to customize everything using the native Customizer experience.
- Elementor starter site (pictured above). You also have the option to use Elementor for the starter site, which allows you to customize all of the content using Elementor (including headers/footers). Again, the Elementor starter site uses a different design from the classic starter site.
- Inner page templates. You’ll also get premade templates for important inner pages, such as admissions, academics, events, staff/faculty, and more.
- Multisite compatibility.
Pricing
Academica does come in both a free version and a premium version, but you’ll almost certainly want to go with the premium version for your university because of the added features and customization options that it offers.
Like the developer’s EduBlock Pro theme, Academica Pro supports both one-year and lifetime licenses. You can pay $69 for one year of support and updates or $239 for lifetime support and updates.
7. UniCamp
UniCamp is a premium WordPress university theme that comes from ThemeMove. It comes with 6+ different homepage designs, along with inner page templates for essential university pages. All of these templates use Elementor for easy customization.
In addition to its modern designs, UniCamp also comes with built-in integrations for some plugins that your university might find helpful, such as the Events Manager plugin for managing in-person or online events.
Key features
- 6+ homepage designs. You can choose the starting point that works best for your university.
- Templates for key pages. UniCamp includes templates for essential university pages such as major lists, admissions, academics, research, and more.
- Powered by Elementor. All of UniCamp’s importable designs are built with Elementor, which allows for easy drag-and-drop customization.
- Events Manager integration. You can use this to create and display events for your university, including 8+ different event layouts.
Pricing
UniCamp costs $69, which gets you lifetime updates for a single site and six months of support. You can extend the support period to a full year for an extra $21.38.
8. Eduma
Eduma is another premium university theme that’s available at Envato’s ThemeForest marketplace. By the numbers, it’s the most popular education theme at ThemeForest, having racked up more than 44,000 sales since its launch all the way back in 2015.
While many of Eduma’s 34+ importable demo sites are focused on online courses, Eduma also includes 9+ starter sites that are specifically designed for universities. This includes the University-2 starter site, which is pictured above.
Key features
- 34+ importable starter sites, including 9+ starter sites that are specifically designed for colleges and universities.
- Elementor powered-starter content. You can use Elementor’s drag-and-drop interface to customize the theme’s starter content.
- 100+ custom Elementor widgets. These can give you more control when customizing the starter content.
- LearnPress LMS integration. The theme developer has also created the LearnPress LMS plugin, which could be an option to consider if you want to deliver online course content. You do not need to use LearnPress to use the Eduma theme, though.
Pricing
Eduma costs $69, which gives you lifetime updates for a single site and six months of support. You can upgrade the support period to a full year for an additional $21.38.
9. Avada University
Like the Astra and Neve themes, Avada is not a dedicated WordPress university theme. However, it is a flexible multipurpose theme that includes a dedicated Avada University starter site that you can use.
All of Avada’s starter content is built with the Avada Builder, which means that you can customize every single part of the design to your university’s needs. This includes the header and footer, as well as your theme templates.
Key features
- Premade university starter site. While Avada is a multipurpose theme, the dedicated Avada University starter site helps you quickly get up and running.
- Powered by Avada Builder. You can use Avada Builder’s visual, drag-and-drop interface to customize your site without any code.
- Full theme building support. In addition to customizing page designs, the Avada Builder also lets you customize theme templates, including the header, footer, blog layout, and more.
- Built-in form builder. You can create forms for your university without needing a separate form plugin.
- WordPress multisite compatibility.
Pricing
Avada only comes in a premium version. It will cost you $69 for lifetime updates and six months of support (extendible to 12 months for an extra $21.38).
10. Education Zone Pro
Education Zone is a freemium university theme that comes from Rara Themes. There’s a free core version, along with a premium version named Education Zone Pro.
With the Pro version, you can access 8+ starter sites for a variety of educational institutions. While some of these starter sites are for primary schools or kindergartens, it does come with three different starter sites built for universities.
The screenshot above showcases the University starter site (which is built with Elementor), but you might also be interested in the Education Zone Pro or Education Zone Pro Modern starter sites (which use the core WordPress editing experience).
Key features
- 8+ importable starter sites. This library includes three dedicated designs for university websites, along with starter sites for other types of educational institutions.
- Classic or Elementor-powered starter sites. The Education Zone Pro and Education Zone Pro Modern starter sites rely on the core WordPress editor, while the University starter site is built with Elementor.
- 8+ header layouts let you easily switch up your site’s header design.
- Built-in performance features. You can access built-in tools to defer JavaScript and implement lazy loading.
Pricing
While there is a free version of Education Zone that’s available at WordPress.org, you’ll need Education Zone Pro to access all of the university starter sites, along with other more advanced design options.
Education Zone Pro costs $59 for one year of support and updates or $149 for lifetime support and updates.
11. Unipix
Unipix is a newer WordPress university theme that was launched on ThemeForest in late 2024. As a result of its recent launch date, all six of its importable starter designs feature clean, modern designs.
Unipix also includes RTL (right-to-left) versions of two of its starter site designs, which could be an advantage if your university is located in an area that uses RTL text.
Key features
- Powered by Elementor. All of Unipix’s starter designs use Elementor, which lets you customize everything using drag-and-drop.
- 6+ starter site designs. Two of these six designs also come in RTL text versions.
- Lots of inner page templates. Unipix includes 12+ types of inner page templates, including admissions, alumni, academics, research centers, faculty/staff directory, campus life, and more.
- Header and footer builder. You can design these areas using Elementor even if you don’t have Elementor Pro.
- Built-in custom post types. Unipix includes built-in custom post types to manage key areas such as faculty, departments, and programs.
Pricing
Unipix costs $49, which gets you lifetime updates for a single site and six months of support. You can extend the support period to a year for an additional $13.88.
12. Estudiar
Estudiar is a premium WordPress university theme that’s built on top of the Elementor plugin. With Elementor and Elementor Pro, you’ll be able to customize every single part of the demo content to meet your needs.
To give you more flexibility, Estudiar comes with two different homepage layouts. It also includes templates for other essential university pages, such as academics, admissions, tuition, student life, and more.
Key features
- Powered by Elementor. Both of Estudiar’s starter sites use Elementor, which allows for easy drag-and-drop customization.
- Theme-wide Elementor customization. In addition to using Elementor to customize the page content of the starter sites, you can also use it to control your site’s header, footer, and other theme-wide areas. These features require Elementor Pro, though.
- Detailed theme options panel to customize theme-wide settings that fall outside of Elementor and Elementor Pro.
Pricing
Estudiar only comes in a premium version and costs $89 at ThemeForest. Your purchase gets you lifetime updates on a single site and six months of support, which you can upgrade to a full year for an extra $28.88.
Note: Estudiar also requires Elementor Pro to work properly. If you don’t already have an Elementor Pro license, you will also need to purchase one to get the most from Estudiar. Elementor Pro licenses start at $60. For this reason, you might want to choose a different theme if you plan to use WordPress multisite, as you would need an Elementor Pro license for each network site.
What else do university WordPress sites need?
While a high-quality university theme makes a great start, it’s not the only thing you need to run a successful university website with WordPress.
Here are a few other things that you’ll want to think about for your university website…
High-quality WordPress hosting
While all WordPress sites can benefit from quality hosting, hosting is especially important for university websites. Any problems could negatively affect the university’s reputation and cause issues for faculty and staff.
Managed WordPress hosting for universities can ensure that your website loads quickly avoid downtime (even under scale), and is secure from malicious actors. Plus, you can always reach out to expert WordPress support if you ever need a helping hand.
WordPress multisite support
While this isn’t a requirement, many university websites make use of WordPress multisite to create sub-sites for various departments within the university.
If you plan to use multisite for your university, you’ll want to make sure that your hosting can handle multisite installs.
Another advantage of using Kinsta to host your university website is that Kinsta’s plans are built to be able to handle WordPress multisite hosting.
In addition to hosting, you’ll also want to make sure the plugins that you’re using will allow WordPress multisite. Many plugins will require you to purchase a specific license for multisite support, which is typically one of the more expensive licenses.
Support for custom post types and custom fields
Most university websites will need the ability to add and manage departments, majors, faculty, etc. To store all of this information and display it on your university website, you’ll want to make use of the custom post type and custom fields functionality in WordPress.
While some university themes will offer built-in post types for this, you can also create your own using plugins like Meta Box, Pods, Advanced Custom Fields, and Toolset.
Other useful university plugins
In addition to a plugin to manage custom fields and custom post types, here’s a quick rundown of some other types of plugins that you might want for your university website:
- Form plugin
- Event manager plugin
- Social media plugins
- Security plugin
- Search engine optimization (SEO) plugin
- User registration plugin, if you want to use the WordPress user management functionality.
- Performance plugin, if your host isn’t already implementing key strategies for you.
- Learning management system (LMS) plugin, if you want to deliver online course content with WordPress.
Summary
If you’re building a university website with WordPress, a dedicated WordPress university theme can help you quickly get up and running with a great-looking design. With the 12 themes on this list, you should be able to find a great starting point for any style and aesthetic.
Of course, choosing the best university theme is not the only thing you’ll need to make your university’s website successful. You’ll also want to choose quality WordPress hosting to ensure your site is secure from threats and loads quickly and reliably.
Check out Kinsta’s education hosting to learn more about how Kinsta can help make your WordPress university website a success.
