The verdict in three sentences
For a private engineering school, the calendar drives everything: in France the site must be live before Parcoursup opens in January, and in Toronto before the OUAC application peak and the January intake marketing push, which means kicking off by mid-September. The budget is 25,000 to 45,000 EUR excl. VAT in Nantes and 40,000 to 80,000 CAD for a Toronto private college, for 60 to 120 programme pages and an admissions CRM connector (HubSpot or Salesforce Education Cloud), delivered in 14 to 16 weeks. The KPI to write into the contract: a cost per lead below 35 EUR (about 52 CAD).
The timeline set by the admissions calendar
In France, Parcoursup opens for applications in mid-January and closes in mid-March; families compare schools from November to February. In Ontario, the bulk of undergraduate applications through OUAC is filed before mid-January, and private career colleges recruit year-round with peaks before the January, May and September intakes. Either way, a site delivered in February misses half the season.
| Step | Duration | Deadline for a mid-January opening |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping, sitemap, workshops | 2 weeks | End of September |
| UX and mockups | 3 weeks | Mid-October |
| Programme page copywriting | 4 weeks (in parallel) | End of October |
| Development and CRM integration | 5 weeks | End of November |
| QA, SEO, 301 redirects | 2 weeks | Mid-December |
| Go-live and open house campaign | 1 week | Before the holidays |
301 redirects are critical: a school site that has existed for 20 years often has 300 to 800 indexed URLs. Forgetting them can cost up to 40 % of organic traffic during the campaign.
The detailed budget
A 1,200-student school typically offers a foundation year, 6 to 10 engineering majors, a few bachelor and master programmes and co-op tracks. That quickly adds up to 60 to 120 programme pages, each with curriculum, careers, graduate salaries, tuition and admission requirements.
| Item | Nantes, excl. VAT 2026 | Toronto, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping, UX, custom design | 6,000 to 10,000 EUR | 9,000 to 17,000 CAD |
| Headless CMS or advanced WordPress build | 8,000 to 14,000 EUR | 13,000 to 25,000 CAD |
| Programme templates and programme finder | 3,000 to 6,000 EUR | 5,000 to 10,000 CAD |
| Admissions CRM connector (HubSpot, Salesforce Education Cloud) | 3,500 to 7,500 EUR | 6,000 to 14,000 CAD |
| Copywriting or rewriting 60 to 120 pages | 2,500 to 5,000 EUR | 4,000 to 8,000 CAD |
| Technical SEO, redirects, accessibility | 2,000 to 2,500 EUR | 3,000 to 6,000 CAD |
| Total | 25,000 to 45,000 EUR | 40,000 to 80,000 CAD |
Accessibility is not optional: in France, the European Accessibility Act applies since June 2025, and in Ontario, AODA requires WCAG 2.0 AA for organisations with 50 or more employees. Schools welcome applicants with disabilities and must serve them from the website onward.
Cost per lead, the metric that matters
A lead is anyone who leaves their details: brochure request, open house registration, tuition simulation. The site must multiply these conversion points and push them into the CRM with the programme of interest and the source.
| Lead source | Annual budget | Leads | Cost per lead (2026 estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education fairs | 35,000 EUR | 700 | 50 EUR |
| Google Ads on programmes | 30,000 EUR | 1,000 | 30 EUR |
| Meta and TikTok to open houses | 18,000 EUR | 750 | 24 EUR |
| SEO on programme pages | 6,000 EUR | 900 | 7 EUR |
| Old site without CRM | 0 EUR | 400 | Not tracked |
Mini case study
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Camille, communications director of a 1,200-student engineering school in Nantes, secures a 38,000 EUR budget and kicks off on 15 September. The site goes live on 16 December. Over the campaign, the school generates 3,350 leads for 89,000 EUR of marketing spend plus the site amortised over three years (about 12,700 EUR a year), so about 30 EUR per lead, below the 35 EUR target. With 280 first-year enrolments instead of 250 and tuition at 9,500 EUR a year, the 30 extra students represent 285,000 EUR of first-year revenue. A Toronto college with tuition around 18,000 CAD would see a similar payback ratio.
FAQ
What budget should a private engineering school plan for its website?
25,000 to 45,000 EUR excl. VAT in Nantes, 40,000 to 80,000 CAD in Toronto, for 60 to 120 programme pages and a CRM connector. A mid-sized school usually lands around 35,000 to 40,000 EUR or 55,000 to 65,000 CAD.
When should the project start to be ready in time?
By mid-September at the latest for a mid-December launch, so 14 to 16 weeks. Starting in October lands the site in the middle of open houses and loses part of the leads.
HubSpot or Salesforce Education Cloud?
HubSpot suits schools under 2,000 students, with licences around 800 to 3,600 EUR per month depending on edition. Salesforce Education Cloud targets multi-campus groups and costs significantly more in licences and integration.
Should graduate salaries be displayed?
Yes, it is one of the three most viewed pieces of information. Show the median salary from your graduate survey, for instance 42,000 EUR gross per year in France or 70,000 CAD in Ontario, with the reference year.
How do we avoid losing search rankings during the redesign?
By mapping every existing URL and setting up 301 redirects, which takes 2 to 4 days. Without it, organic traffic can drop by 40 % for several months.
Let's scope your project. An engineering school website with 60 to 120 programme pages, an admissions CRM connector and a schedule aligned with the admissions calendar scopes at 25,000 to 45,000 EUR or 40,000 to 80,000 CAD, live in 14 to 16 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
