Published August 27, 2025 | Categories: Higher Education , Beacon News , Web Development
What if your next website redesign could be faster, simpler, and more affordable, all without sacrificing quality?
That’s the promise behind LuxEd, Beacon’s all-inclusive digital solution for higher education. Designed to simplify the complexity of website redesign, LuxEd offers colleges and universities a comprehensive, fully integrated approach that combines strategy, design, development, hosting, and ongoing support into a single, affordable package. The result: a successful launch and long-term website performance.
Your website is more than a digital presence. It’s a showcase of your institution’s academic excellence, vibrant student life, and amazing program opportunities. That's why we’re excited to announce a major expansion to our offering.
Adding WordPress to LuxEd solution was a strategic decision. While Cascade CMS continues to set the standard for proprietary platforms, WordPress has proven itself as an open-source alternative that is both easy to use and highly regarded. Now, clients can choose the CMS platform best suited to support their content creation strategy.
“Beacon is excited to offer WordPress as a CMS option within our LuxEd comprehensive solution,” says Keana Massey, Vice President of UX Design and Development. “We’ve worked deliberately to wrap WordPress into our offering, while sticking to Beacon’s high quality and performance standards.”
It’s no secret that colleges and universities face mounting financial pressure, from declining enrollment to shrinking budgets. Licensing costs of proprietary CMS solutions can be a roadblock for institutions that are looking to keep costs under control. That’s where WordPress comes in.
WordPress delivers the functionality and accessibility that schools require without ongoing proprietary fees. Nearly 40% of higher ed websites already use WordPress, making it a top choice for smaller colleges, marketing-led web teams, and schools with limited IT resources who need a flexible, easy-to-manage CMS. Its intuitive dashboard is designed for a broad audience, offering a user-friendly experience where managing content and updating pages is straightforward, even without extensive technical knowledge. With its open-source foundation and no licensing fees, WordPress is a cost-efficient option that meets higher ed’s needs for customization and branding requirements.
By integrating WordPress alongside Cascade CMS into LuxEd, we’re empowering clients to choose the platform that works best for them.
For years, we focused exclusively on proprietary CMS platforms because we were concerned about quality control, security, and governance of open-source systems. We know higher ed websites require strict standards for accessibility, security, scalability, and long-term stability, and we weren’t willing to compromise.
After a thorough multi-year research and development process, Beacon is proud to deliver a secure, scalable, and easy-to-manage WordPress experience tailored for higher education. Led by our in-house engineers and database architects, we’ve built and tested a WordPress solution that delivers robust functionality, streamlined management, and enterprise-level reliability.
Mark Dirks, CBO and Senior Partner, is excited to offer WordPress as a CMS option within Beacon’s LuxEd comprehensive solution.
“Given the increased demand for WordPress and maturation of the software,” Mark explains, “Beacon invested in defining and developing a dependable infrastructure to satisfy our internal requirements regarding security, reliability, performance, and management. The goal was to architect a unique, high-end WordPress option for our Higher Ed customers at a reasonable price. Our developers, engineers, and Project Management Office have worked closely to achieve this. While we remain a big advocate of Cascade CMS, our deliberate approach to WordPress adds a viable open-source option to our solution.”
LuxEd's managed WordPress option includes:
And with our built-in quality controls, you’ll get:
This is not just a WordPress site. It’s a higher-ed-ready platform, thoughtfully engineered by Beacon.
Whether your institution is preparing for its first major redesign or pursuing enterprise-level digital transformation, Beacon’s proprietary and open-source CMS solutions deliver strategic value. By expanding LuxEd to include WordPress, Beacon equips your institution with a flexible platform that adapts to new technologies as they emerge. Together, we’ll help you stay ahead of the curve, strengthen your digital presence, and position your institution for long-term success.
Connect with us and explore how Beacon can help you drive enrollment, engagement, and long-term digital success.
