The 10 Best LMSs for Higher Education Institutions

The internet has transformed many aspects of our daily lives, including how we learn. eLearning has been gaining traction for quite a while, and the COVID-19 pandemic became a real turning point that established online learning as a viable alternative to traditional classrooms on all educational stages. 

In higher education, online programs are now competing with on-site ones thanks to their convenience and accessibility. However, it takes more than a great program and curriculum to ensure student success. To make remote higher ed work, you also need the right learning software known as a learning management system or LMS. In this guide, we’ll explain what an LMS for higher education is, provide a top-10 list of the best LMSs for higher education, and offer tips on choosing the right one.

What Is an LMS for Higher Education?

Before we explore the specifics of LMSs for higher education, let’s make sure you understand what an LMS is per se. In general, an LMS, or learning management system, is specialized software that centralizes and facilitates all processes involved in eLearning. These processes include, but are not limited to, user management, course creation and delivery, student progress tracking, grading, and evaluating outcomes. 

Although the core functionality is more or less the same across all of such platforms, each industry and organization has its own needs and requirements, depending on its scale and specifics. Hence the various types of LMS platforms to choose from. These types differ in several aspects, including deployment method, ownership, pricing models, and, most importantly, specific features. For example, big enterprises need robust advanced functionality first and foremost, while small businesses want more affordable yet scalable solutions. 

For educational institutions and higher ed organizations in particular, the essential LMS features that matter the most include course creation, testing and assessment, collaboration, social learning and engagement, and blended learning. SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) compliance is also important for educational LMSs, as are mobile learning and integrations.

The 10 Best LMSs for Higher Education Institutions

With so many LMS platforms out there, it might be difficult to choose the right one for your educational institution. 

To facilitate your process, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 LMSs that are best suited for higher education. We have also provided brief descriptions of each platform, their key features, major pros and cons, and pricing info.

The Best LMSs for Higher Education: Summary Chart

iSpring Learn is one of the leading eLearning solutions on the market. Thanks to its user-friendliness, a wide range of available features, and affordable tiered pricing, the platform is popular in many industries, including education. 

Educational organizations will appreciate the LMS’s intuitive interface, convenient authoring functionality, interactive quizzes, and gamification features that keep students engaged, detailed reports, and flexible pricing. It also enables skill- and competency-based education by allowing you to build adaptive learning tracks. In reviews, educators also praise the platform’s straightforward and convenient progress tracking and personal data security. 

Moreover, iSpring offers integrations with conferencing tools essential for instructor-led learning, as well as with eLearning libraries such as Udemy, Go1, and LinkedIn Learning. The 30-day free trial period allows one to test the waters without providing any payment details. Overall, this LMS is a good fit for most smaller and mid-sized higher education organizations looking for a cost-effective commercial digital learning solution. 

Pricing: Two pricing plans, starting at $3.70 per user per month for 300 users (annual billing). Custom plan available upon request. A 30-day free trial is available without credit card details.

Key features: AI-assisted course creation, personalized learning paths, comprehensive reporting, advanced analytics, and interactive knowledge assessment tools.

Moodle is probably the best-known higher education LMS. As such, it boasts a wide range of features for excellent teaching and learning experiences. However, its key advantage — being an open-source, fully customizable platform — is also a drawback. 

As features go, Moodle offers most of what other similar platforms have and what students and faculty use. It allows for creating and importing learning materials, has grading and assessment tools, and supports different learning styles, including blended and mobile learning. You can also build custom learning pathways and take advantage of the LMS’s AI features. Integrations will come in handy too, and international institutions will appreciate a 100+ language pack. The platform is also LTI compliant, so users can make the most of the Learning Tools Interoperability standard.

However, Moodle’s open-source nature calls for an extensive IT infrastructure. That’s why the LMS might be more suitable for larger organizations with abundant resources. Alternatively, there is a commercial cloud-based version that comes with additional support — and considerable fees.

Pricing: Free (open-source, requires installation and maintenance), tiered pricing starting from $200 USD for 50 users, billed annually (Moodle Cloud). 

Key features: Advanced customization, personalized learning tracks, grading and assessment tools, AI-assisted course building, and multilingual support. 

Blackboard by Anthology (formerly known as Blackboard Learn) is a popular LMS for colleges and universities. The platform caters fairly well to most of the educational institutions’ needs but seems to have its drawbacks when it comes to usability and reliability. It is also one of the oldest LMSs on the market, having been launched in 1997. 

The core capabilities of this LMS include convenient AI-powered course creation, assessment and grading features, progress tracking, and some collaboration tools. Some of its specific features, such as a built-in plagiarism detector or accessibility checker, are particularly handy in education, and the platform also integrates with a lot of third-party educational tools.

However, teachers and students often complain about Blackboard’s interface, which makes the LMS not the most user-friendly platform, plus personalization is never mentioned as a strong point. On the bright side, pricing is said to have dropped since the platform’s acquisition. The precise fees are only available upon request, but a 30-day free trial period is available.

Pricing: Upon request. 30-day free trial available, no credit card required.

Key features: AI-powered course building, accessibility tools, assessment and grading, reporting, and analytics. 

D2L Brightspace is another well-known LMS for educational organizations, including K-12 schools and higher education institutions. This software is in use in many mid-sized colleges and universities, thanks to its scalability and cost-effectiveness. But there are also some notable issues. 

On the bright side, the LMS is tailored to the educational industry’s needs and offers a range of essential features, such as course building, grading and assessment, convenient progress tracking and analytics, and gamification. According to reviews, it particularly shines in creating adaptive learning tracks that help provide competency-based learning experiences, automated grading, and advanced analytics. Yet mobile learning experiences are not as impressive, and there are also some complaints about the platform’s interface.

However, the LMS is said to offer good value for the money, especially when compared to its closest competitors, Canvas and Blackboard — but you have to contact the vendor’s sales department or request a demo to learn pricing details. 

Pricing: Upon request. 30-day free trial, no credit card details required. 

Key features: Course builder, adaptive learning paths, automated grading, and progress tracking and analytics.

Canvas is one of the best-known names in the educational industry, with clients ranging from K-12 organizations to higher education institutions. The LMS provides students and educators with a wide range of capabilities, but some organizations find it too sophisticated and expensive.

Among the features most praised by the platform’s users are its user-friendly interface, course creation capabilities, personalization, collaboration, and gamification. The LMS also provides interactive analytics and has a native mobile app that allows for a seamless learning experience. 

However, this popular university LMS might be too needlessly expensive for smaller institutions, considering that its close competitors offer more or less the same features, but with a lower price tag. Besides, some Canvas reviews mention a somewhat steep learning curve.

Pricing: Upon request. The Free-For-Teacher account with limited features is available.

Key features: Ease of use, course building, personalized learning paths, mobile learning, grading and assessment, interactive analytics, and a large number of integrations. 

Docebo is a powerful learning platform that’s well known in the corporate world. Its advanced functionality has earned it a great reputation in many industries. However, the system is more geared toward the needs and requirements of enterprises, and its pricing is also a point to consider. 

In terms of functionality, Docebo has all the basic features any LMS should have, plus a lot more. Some highlights include convenient AI-powered content creation and course building, detailed reporting and analytics, and advanced social learning and engagement features. However, it does have a rather steep learning curve, plus it doesn’t natively integrate with many apps that are popular in education. 

As a result, this platform might be a bit inconvenient to use and not exactly cost-effective as a higher ed LMS. Considering that there also seems to be no trial period available, you’ll need some very solid reasons to choose this LMS over its competitors in this particular industry. 

Pricing: Three pricing tiers, details available upon request. 

Key features: AI-assisted course creation, personalized learning paths, mobile learning, reporting and analytics, and a large number of integrations.

Tovuti is another eLearning solution primarily focused on corporate training. However, its functionality allows it to be adapted to suit the needs of higher education institutions. The system definitely has its advantages, but it might be a bit of a risk to prefer it over more established competitors — especially considering that it is significantly younger than they are. 

Some of the features most highlighted by Tovuti’s vendor include customization and white labeling capabilities, fast and convenient AI-powered course authoring, personalization, and gamification. But one feature that truly stands out is a stellar number of integrations — over 7,000 of them. The platform also offers functionality for blended learning. 

The problem is, very often the choice comes down to comparing user experience and pricing — and this is where Tovuti’s options are limited. The vendor neither reveals the product’s pricing model nor offers a free trial period, which might make Toviti a hard sell — particularly in the industry with a number of strong leaders.

Pricing: Available upon request, no trial period.

Key features: Customization, AI-assisted content creation, personalization, engagement and gamification tools, and abundant integrations.

CYPHER sits somewhere in the middle in terms of its ‘age,’ being a rather established learning system, but still less seasoned than some competitors. That said, the system has earned recognition across various industries, including education, particularly K-12 schools and higher education institutions. 

The range of features offered by this LMS covers all the essential needs of teachers, as well as their students. The most prominent ones include AI-assisted content creation, social learning and gamification tools, personalization options including personalized learning paths, and mobile learning via a native mobile app. Analytics tools are also present, and the system supports a large number of languages. 

On the flip side, pricing details are not publicly available, and there is no information about any trial period. You can request a demo, but if pricing is a major factor to consider, it might be a bit frustrating.

Pricing: Upon request, no free trial is available. 

Key features: Multilingual support, AI-powered content creation, personalized learning experiences, gamification, and social learning tools.

Sakai LMS is another open-source eLearning software, and it comes with both considerable advantages and some drawbacks. Overall, the platform is a decent solution for higher education, but since it is not as popular as Moodle, it could use some improvements in terms of usability and capabilities. 

The good thing is, this platform is solely education-focused, created specifically for the needs of academia. As such, it has all the basic functionality and can be integrated with popular educational apps: you can create course content, track learner progress, analyze performance, grade assignments, and more.

However, implementation and maintenance of the self-hosted version requires technical expertise, and the cloud-based version’s pricing is unclear. Also, teachers and students mention an outdated interface and performance issues among the platform’s drawbacks.

Pricing: Free (open-source, requires installation and maintenance), cloud-hosted version pricing details upon request, demo version available. 

Key features: Customization and adaptability, multiple integrations, grading and assessment, analytics, and content creation.

The Open edX learning management system is open-source software run by the Axim Collaborative nonprofit organization. The project is a collaborative effort of Harvard and MIT, so it’s directly linked to higher education institutions. However, it takes technical expertise to take full advantage of the platform’s capacities. 

Open edX is better known as a platform for hosting Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). But thanks to its outstanding flexibility, an expert technical team can customize it to be an ideal learning management system for colleges, universities, or any other educational institution. Open edX software also includes a course authoring tool and plugin extensions known as XBlocks. 

That said, the system might be overwhelming without technical support, even with the help of the project’s strong community. The good news is there’s a network of partners all over the world to help with installation and hosting, mobile app development, platform customization, and more.

Pricing: Free (self-managed version).

Key features: Flexibility and adaptability, course authoring with a native tool, integrations with conferencing, discussion functionality, and other tools.

Why Use an LMS in Higher Education?

LMSs in higher education institutions can be very advantageous to students, educators, and educational organizations as a whole. Let’s zoom in on the most obvious benefits. 

Advanced adaptability and personalization

Personalization is a powerful approach that has been proven to boost results in many industries, including marketing, advertising, and education. As various research data indicates, the effectiveness of personalized learning is truly remarkable.

In higher education in particular, personalization is one of the key factors contributing to successful learning outcomes. According to results from a McKinsey research project, focusing on more personalized learning experiences is an important part of improving online higher education overall. From building personalized learning paths that enable skill- and competency-based learning to delivering personalized student feedback, this technique is applicable at practically every stage of a student’s online educational journey. 

Higher student engagement 

Students learn more willingly and retain knowledge better when their learning experiences are engaging. Unfortunately, traditional classrooms don’t always live up to post-pandemic-era students’ expectations, resulting in lower student motivation and engagement levels in higher education. 

Online learning platforms can help tackle this acute problem by offering cutting-edge technology to boost student engagement. By using features such as AI-powered personalization, gamification, VR/AR features, social learning, and collaboration, higher ed institutions can make learning more dynamic, more focused, more meaningful, and more engaging.

In fact, this is what students want and expect from colleges and universities. McKinsey’s research indicates that the majority of those surveyed were excited about using technologies capable of making learning more entertaining. 

Instant access to useful insights

Grading and evaluation of test results and coursework is one thing, and gleaning insights from these results in order to see the bigger picture is quite another. Doing this the old way is incredibly resource-consuming. Fortunately, online learning platforms can do this automatically in a matter of minutes. 

Whether you’re running a corporate training program or a university course, LMS reporting helps monitor learner progress, measure student engagement, and more, in real time. Instant access to these insights enables educators to assess the overall success of their programs quickly and make the necessary adjustments to improve effectiveness.

Convenient course management

When executed offline, course management in schools of all levels is extremely time-consuming, so teachers often have little time left for other tasks, such as their professional development and honing course materials. Even if this work is handled by another staff member, it still consumes time and resources that could be better spent. 

An LMS platform for higher education facilitates all processes involved in course management, such as the creation, storage, structuring, and delivery of course materials. Moreover, learning management systems help handle administrative routine tasks, including enrollments, grades, student records, and more.

Resource optimization

Although most online learning platforms are not free, they allow colleges and universities to save a lot of time and money on rolling out and maintaining educational courses. With fast and convenient course creation, advanced automation, and other features, LMSs enable higher education institutions to optimize resources significantly without compromising the quality of their educational programs. 

Besides, the adoption of LMSs helps students optimize their resources, too. As the students surveyed by McKinsey put it, they “learn from the best professors and experts” and “have one-click access to classes and learning resources” in the virtual learning environment, which particularly benefits international students. Plus, online programs tend to cost less than in-person ones.

How To Choose the Best LMS for Higher Education: Core Features To Look For

Choosing the best LMS for higher education starts with understanding the core capabilities to consider. Here’s what you need to look for. 

Mobile learning

Flexibility and ease of access are essential in today’s fast-paced world — in the educational sphere, as well as many others. So, it’s no wonder that mobile learning is already a huge market and is projected to grow to $244.7 billion by 2032. 

For college and university students, learning on the go has always been a natural thing since most of them are short on time, juggling several responsibilities. Luckily, most modern LMS platforms popular with higher ed institutions offer mobile apps that integrate with their desktop solutions and allow for creating a seamless learning experience for users. When choosing the LMS for your organization, be sure to not overlook this crucial feature.

Blended learning 

Blended learning, or hybrid learning, is a way of learning and training that blends traditional in-person instruction with technology-aided delivery. This approach allows students to get the best of both worlds, benefiting from live interaction with educators, as well as from innovative and engaging online activities. 

Although blended learning is now a widespread approach in both education and corporate training, not all LMSs offer the capabilities necessary to use this model successfully. To make sure your LMS is a good fit for blended learning, look for features that allow for conducting live sessions and monitoring the attendance of sessions conducted offline.

Quizzes and tests 

Knowledge assessment is an integral part of every educational program, online or offline. In a traditional classroom, students take tests and exams regularly to enable educators to evaluate their mastery of the subject. Similarly, online programs should contain knowledge assessment activities.

In the digital learning environment, these activities typically come in the form of tests and interactive quizzes. The latter are not only effective for evaluating knowledge retention, but are also great for increasing student engagement. In iSpring Learn, you can create over a dozen types of quiz questions, and students will get the results automatically upon completion.

Reporting and analytics

As mentioned earlier, reporting and advanced analytics tools in LMS systems provide educators with a variety of data and valuable insights that aid educators in honing their programs. Depending on the platform’s capabilities, these insights can appear in the form of a general overview or a detailed in-depth analysis focusing on a wide array of aspects.

For example, iSpring Learn has a powerful performance appraisal tool that is typically used in corporate training but can be adjusted for the needs of higher education institutions. Today, there is evidence that student performance appraisal is an approach that can be beneficial for instructors and students alike.

Other important features to look for include the availability of integrations with tools such as conferencing platforms (e.g., Zoom, MS Teams), external content libraries, AI text and plagiarism checkers, and payment processing systems, as well as reliable customer support. The latter is essential since faculty members usually need support and training at the implementation stage, and educational institutions do not always have enough skilled IT staff to handle this training on their own. 

Final Thoughts

eLearning has become an integral part of higher education, and its popularity is growing further still. To manage online programs, educational organizations need specialized software known as learning management systems (LMSs). However, not all LMSs can be a good fit for the educational industry. Moreover, these platforms differ within the relevant category, so even a top LMS for higher education is not guaranteed to be the best choice for your particular institution. To find your ideal solution, consider and compare all the features and characteristics of each platform, and make use of the trial period if available to test the waters. You can book a free personalized iSpring Learn demo to explore the LMS and understand how it can benefit your higher education institution.