Each college is independent in that students receive their degrees from the one college in which they are enrolled, and administration and admissions departments are independent. The seven-institution Claremont Colleges system is supported by
The Claremont Colleges Services (
TCCS), which provides centralized services, such as a library, student health, financial and human resources, telecommunications, risk management, real estate, physical plant maintenance, and other services, for those colleges. The Claremont Colleges Library (also known as Honnold/Mudd Library) holds more than items , of which are physical and are digital. Other shared facilities include Campus Safety, the Tranquada Student Services Center (which houses Baxter Medical Center, Monsour Counseling Center, and the Health Education Outreach), McAlister Center (home of the Office of the Chaplains and the Claremont Card Center), EmPOWER Center (which works to address sexual violence), the Huntley Bookstore, all dining facilities, and several sports facilities. The Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity, colloquially termed "the Hive", was established in 2015 to support creative learning. The Claremont Colleges Library is an example of the level of cooperation in terms of support services. The size of the library collection ranks third among the
private institutions in California, behind only
Stanford and
USC. Shared academic departments include the Intercollegiate
Women's Studies Center, the Intercollegiate Department of
Chicano Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of
Asian American Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of
Africana Studies (formerly Black Studies), the Intercollegiate Department of
Religious Studies, the Intercollegiate Department of
Media Studies, and the Five-College Theater Department. In January 2008, the Claremont Colleges also formed the Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences, which is led by the Claremont Graduate University and is a collaborative center for faculty members working in mathematics. Shared intercollegiate programs include the
European Union Center of California, the Chicano/
Latino Student Affairs Center, the Office of Black Student Affairs, the Office of the Chaplains, Hillel, and the Queer Resource Center. , with the
San Gabriel Mountains in the background In addition, Pitzer College and Scripps College share a single science program, the Department of Natural Sciences. Many research projects and courses use the
Robert J. Bernard Field Station, an natural area which consists principally of the rare Coastal Sage Scrub
ecosystem. Since 2024, the Bernard Field Station has been home to the
FLUXNET site US-BFS. The Claremont Colleges have been praised by higher education experts for their high level of cooperation and the overall success of their model, They have influenced the operations of other consortia and collegiate universities, but their model remains unique with few other institutions operating comparably. There are several media organizations at the Claremont Colleges, the largest of which is
The Student Life, the oldest
college newspaper in Southern California. It publishes a weekly print edition as well as online content. Pomona also has a
student-run radio station,
KSPC. The
Claremont Independent, a conservative magazine, has produced articles about the 5Cs' political culture that have been picked up by national
conservative media outlets and drawn criticism from many students.
The Golden Antlers publishes satirical content. hike descends from the summit of
Mount Baldy toward the Devil's Backbone ridge in the
San Gabriel Mountains north of campus.
On the Loose (OTL), the
outing club of the 5Cs, sponsors trips to outdoors destinations. Its flagship event, an annual hike up
Mount Baldy in swimwear or goofy costumes, can draw more than 100 participants. It is affiliated with the Outdoor Education Center of Pomona College (OEC), which lends equipment to students for free and provides outdoor leadership training. There are several dance groups on campus, including the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC), which has more than 130 dancers, making it the third-largest collegiate program in the U.S. It has won multiple national championships. The Pomona College Theater Department produces four mainstage productions and a dance concert each year, and there are several smaller student-run productions as well. The 5Cs have two improv groups, Without a Box and Underground Theatrical Institution (UTI). One, the Claremont Shades, hosts the annual SCAMFest concert, which draws singers from other Southern California colleges. ==Comparison of undergraduate colleges==