The Claremont Colleges (5C) Parents & Families Guide

Five colleges, about one square mile

Your student applied to one college, but daily life spills across all five. The undergraduate campuses of Pomona, Claremont McKenna (CMC), Harvey Mudd, Scripps and Pitzer adjoin one another, sit within walking distance of each other and together cover roughly one square mile. Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute round out the seven Claremont Colleges, and students can eat at any of the colleges' dining facilities.

Some things are shared and some are not. The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) runs Student Health Services and Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services from the Tranquada Student Services Center at 757 College Way, plus a single 24 hour Campus Safety department. Housing, move in, mail and family weekend belong to each college, so start with your student's own college whenever you look something up.

Getting to Claremont

Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the easy one. Pomona's visitor page puts a rideshare or cab from ONT at about 20 minutes, while the drive from LAX can take up to two hours. If you would rather skip the freeway, the Claremont Metrolink station on the San Bernardino Line sits three blocks from Pomona, at 201 W. First St.

How the year runs

All five use semesters. For 2026 to 27, fall classes start Monday, Aug 31, fall finals run Dec 14 to 18, spring classes start Tuesday, Jan 19, and spring finals run May 10 to 14 at every college. Fall break, Thanksgiving recess and spring break shift by a day or two depending on the college, and commencement lands on Saturday, May 15 or Sunday, May 16, 2027.

Family weekend depends on the college

There is no single 5C family weekend. Pomona hosts families Oct 23 to 24 and Pitzer Nov 6 to 8, 2026. Harvey Mudd, CMC and Scripps all wait until February 2027: Feb 5 to 6 at Mudd, Feb 13 to 15 at CMC and Feb 13 to 14 at Scripps.

Where students live

Each college houses its own students. CMC, for example, groups its halls into North, Mid and South Quads, while Harvey Mudd's nine halls include Case, Linde, South and Sontag. Move in and closing rules differ by college, and our move in and out page walks through each one.

Your family office

Pomona has Alumni and Family Engagement in Seaver House, CMC has Alumni & Parent Engagement, Mudd has the Office of Alumni and Family Engagement, Scripps has the Office of Parent Engagement and Pitzer has the Office of Family Engagement. Contact details are on our FAQ page.

In this hub

You will find college by college dates, a travel page covering ONT, LAX, Metrolink and hotels from the Village to Ontario, a move in and move out guide, and a local resources page with health care, pharmacies, Campus Safety and each college's mailing address.