The number of student organizations in the Manning School of Business has grown from five to 14 in the past three years, as the school has put an emphasis on student engagement.

The university’s new Money Management Mentors program gives students a way to discuss their personal finances in a confidential, one-on-one setting with trained peers, with the goal to increase retention and decrease student loans.

Jaime Waldron, 20, a sophomore at UMass Lowell, is part of the state's pilot program on housing homeless students. Both of Waldron’s parents died by the time she was 15, and she bounced among family members during high school. She is considered an independent orphan and has previously taken out $16,000 in student loans to pay for her year-round, on-campus housing.

Now in its fourth year, the Office of Multicultural Affairs’ popular Pair-Up Program helps international students acclimate to campus while increasing cultural understanding for American students.