8 Reasons to Fall in Love with ӣ�� Manchester

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Set in the heart of Manchester’s historic Millyard, ӣ�� Manchester is a place where opportunity, community, and innovation naturally converge. Choosing a college is about more than academics or architecture; it’s about discovering an environment that supports your ambitions and feels like the right fit.

At ӣ�� Manchester, students build meaningful connections, gain real‑world experience alongside industry partners, and grow within a supportive, tight‑knit campus community. It’s an environment designed to inspire, challenge, and prepare you for what comes next.

If you’re looking for an affordable, welcoming college that brings your goals within reach, here are eight reasons students love ӣ�� Manchester:

1. The Millyard Advantage: Innovation at Your Doorstep

ӣ�� Manchester sits in the historic Manchester Millyard, a growing center for tech and biotech where industry and innovation meet. Students are just steps away from places like the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) and startups at the forefront of regenerative medicine, biotech, engineering, and more.

Programs like the Millyard Scholars Program give students direct access to research labs, tissue engineering projects, and internships within the Millyard community. Here, the city truly becomes part of your classroom experience.

2. The City Is Your Campus

The energy of downtown Manchester is part of campus life. ӣ�� Manchester students learn, intern, explore, and create just steps from cafés, museums, studios, tech companies, labs, restaurants, and cultural spots. You might grab coffee before a biotech lab, film a project for communication arts, or present research at a local innovation center. Here, you live and learn in a real-world setting that reflects your future career.

3. Affordability That Makes Education Accessible

ӣ�� Manchester is known as one of the best value colleges in New Hampshire. The school offers strong financial aid, including millions in merit scholarships and special funding options such as the Granite Guarantee for Pell-eligible residents.

Thanks to scholarships and aid, 38% of students graduate without any debt.
Students can receive $7,000 to $20,000 each year in scholarships, which can cover up to 94% of tuition for New Hampshire residents.

You shouldn’t have to take on decades of debt for your degree, and at ӣ�� Manchester, you don’t have to.

4. Career-Focused, Industry-Aligned Programs

Every major at ӣ�� Manchester is designed to help you build a career. Whether you study analytics, data science, biotechnology, engineering technology, cybersecurity, ASL interpreting, or something else, you’ll get hands-on learning and real industry experience throughout your program. Students build real portfolios through:

Research in cutting-edge labs
Work-based learning
Partnerships with local employers
Internships fueled by Manchester’s tech and biotech growth

As a result, 93% of graduates are working or continuing their education within six months.

5. Mentorship That Moves You Forward

With a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio, your professors will know you by name, support you, and connect you with mentors who truly care about your success. Students in specialized programs, such as the Millyard Scholars, often work side by side with faculty on research, independent projects, and industry collaborations. Mentorship here isn’t extra; it’s built into everything we do.

6. A Community That Feels Like Home

At ӣ�� Manchester, you truly get the best of both worlds: a small‑campus feel where you’re known and supported, combined with a big‑city access to opportunity, innovation, and culture. And all of it comes together to create one tight‑knit, inclusive, welcoming community.

You can join student government, clubs, wellness programs, and cultural events; there are endless ways to get involved and meet new friends. Many students, whether they are transfers, first-generation, commuters, or traditional students, say they feel at home right away.

7. Hands-On Learning Every Step of the Way

This is a place where you learn by doing: experiments using state-of-the-art equipment. For example:

Engineering technology majors design, build, and solve real-world problems.
Communication arts students film, produce, and create content in professional studios.
Computing and analytics students analyze real datasets and collaborate with industry.

From programming robots and sequencing DNA to modeling data or directing a film, you start building your résumé from your first day.

8. A Culture That Energizes You

If you look at ӣ�� Manchester’s Instagram, you’ll see students celebrating internships, sharing research successes, working together in labs, exploring downtown, making art, supporting each other, and showing their Wildcat pride.

Our campus is full of thinkers, builders, advocates, creators, and future leaders, and there’s a place for you here, too. Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn to see what campus life is like. Or better yet, schedule a tour to get a firsthand look at our city campus and feel the vibe for yourself.