College Community Platform Development

I’m building a Wordpress website on:
1. online hub where college students, faculty, and alumni can connect, share ideas, and collaborate.
2. College info pages for 100+ colleges
3. Tools like the percentile predictor for CAT and other exams

The heart of the site is community engagement, so I need robust discussion forums and flexible user-group functionality. Groups will default to private status—members must be approved before they can see posts or contribute—so role-based access and clear moderation tools are essential.

Here’s what I’m after:

• A clean, intuitive forum interface that supports threads, replies, mentions, and basic content moderation.
• Private group spaces that allow admins to invite or approve members, assign roles, and manage content visibility.
• User profiles tied into both forums and groups so participation feels seamless.

I’m open to the framework or stack you prefer—whether you lean toward WordPress + bbPress, Discourse, Node/React, or another proven solution—as long as it scales and remains easy for non-technical staff to manage. Please include any similar community work you’ve done, the toolset you recommend, and a brief outline of your build timeline from kickoff to launch.