UNH publishes an unusually complete 2027 schedule: FIVE ceremonies across three days, 20 to 22 May, each with a start time. Which one is yours decides everything here, because they are not interchangeable. Four are in the Whittemore Center on the Durham campus, and UNH confirms that venue for 2027 rather than leaving it to inference. The exception is the one to catch: the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law ceremony is on Thursday 20 May at 4 p.m. and is held at White Park in CONCORD, about 40 minutes from Durham and a different lodging market entirely. A law family booking Durham hotels would be in the wrong town. Every graduate can claim up to FOUR guest tickets.
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Five ceremonies, not one
UNH is further ahead than most universities on this site: its commencement page is already on the 2027 cycle and publishes a full schedule with times. That schedule is five ceremonies across three days, and which one is yours decides your entire trip.
| When | Ceremony | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 20 May, 4:00 p.m. | UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law | White Park, Concord |
| Fri 21 May, 10:00 a.m. | Graduate School (incl. UNH Manchester and CPS Online) | Whittemore Center |
| Fri 21 May, 3:00 p.m. | Health and Human Services · Life Sciences and Agriculture | Whittemore Center |
| Sat 22 May, 10:00 a.m. | Business and Economics · Engineering and Physical Sciences | Whittemore Center |
| Sat 22 May, 3:00 p.m. | Liberal Arts · Professional Studies | Whittemore Center |
The Law ceremony is in a different city
This is the one that costs money if you miss it.
The UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law ceremony is not on the Durham campus. UNH states it is held at White Park in Concord, New Hampshire, about 40 minutes away and a completely separate lodging market.
A law family that books Durham off a page describing “UNH commencement” is in the wrong town on the wrong day, because the Law ceremony is also the earliest of the five, on the Thursday. If your graduate is finishing at the law school, plan around Concord and ignore the Durham arithmetic on the graduation hotels page.
Four tickets, and that is the hard limit
UNH publishes the guest allocation plainly: graduates “will have the option to claim up to 4 tickets each.”
That is worth resolving before anyone books a flight. A family of five travelling for one graduate is already one ticket short, and the ceremonies are in an arena rather than an open field, so there is no overflow lawn to stand on.
The venue is confirmed, which is rarer than it sounds
UNH states that all UNH Durham and College of Professional Studies ceremonies will take place in the Whittemore Center, and it says that about 2027 rather than leaving you to infer it from last year.
Most clusters on this site cannot say that. It means the Durham four are a known quantity: same building, same campus, four different times across two days.
One thing to double-check on UNH’s own page
UNH lists its final ceremony as “Saturday, May 21, 2027”. That date and that weekday do not agree: 21 May 2027 is a Friday, and 22 May is the Saturday.
Every other Saturday entry on the schedule is 22 May, and each day pairs a 10 a.m. ceremony with a 3 p.m. one, so the weekday is almost certainly the reliable half and the ceremony is the Saturday afternoon one. This page stores it as Saturday 22 May. If that is your graduate’s ceremony, it is worth one email to UNH before you book a flight around it.
What we checked
UNH’s commencement page was read on 19 August 2026 and every time, college pairing, venue and the ticket limit above comes from it directly. Weekdays were verified independently: 20 May 2027 is a Thursday, 21 May a Friday and 22 May a Saturday.
Not published, and each a real absence: a rain or contingency plan, door-opening times, and whether the four-ticket allocation differs by ceremony.
Where to stay, and why Durham itself absorbs almost none of this, is on the graduation hotels page.
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Frequently asked questions
When is UNH's 2027 commencement?
It is not one ceremony. UNH runs five across three days: Thursday 20 May, Friday 21 May and Saturday 22 May 2027. Each has a published start time, and which one is yours depends on your graduate's college.
Which ceremony is mine?
Law graduates: Thursday 20 May at 4 p.m., in Concord. Graduate School, including UNH Manchester and CPS Online: Friday 21 May at 10 a.m. Health and Human Services with Life Sciences and Agriculture: Friday 21 May at 3 p.m. Business and Economics with Engineering and Physical Sciences: Saturday 22 May at 10 a.m. Liberal Arts with Professional Studies: Saturday 22 May at 3 p.m.
Why is the Law ceremony somewhere else?
Because the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law is in Concord rather than on the Durham campus, and its ceremony is held at White Park there. That is roughly 40 minutes away and a separate lodging market. If your graduate is a law student, Durham is not where you want to be booking.
How many guests can each graduate bring?
Up to four. UNH states that graduates at these ceremonies "will have the option to claim up to 4 tickets each". If your party is larger than four guests, that is the constraint to plan around before booking travel.
Where are the Durham ceremonies held?
The Whittemore Center. UNH states that all UNH Durham and College of Professional Studies ceremonies take place there, and it says so for 2027 rather than leaving it to be inferred from a previous year.
Is there a mistake on UNH's own schedule?
There appears to be a small one, and it is worth knowing about. UNH lists the final ceremony as "Saturday, May 21, 2027", but 21 May 2027 is a Friday and 22 May is the Saturday. Every other Saturday entry is 22 May, and each day pairs a 10 a.m. ceremony with a 3 p.m. one, so the weekday is almost certainly the reliable half. Confirm with UNH before booking around that specific ceremony.
How we verified this
Last verified:
This page is verified in two stages. Every fact is checked against the primary sources listed above, then the page is reviewed and signed off by our editor, A. Hassan. Corrections and enquiries: hello@graduationstay.com