Title Page

The Title page must appear as the first page of the document.

If you are using one of our templates, only change text that is enclosed in brackets. The brackets indicate fields you must fill with your own information: the title of your disquisition, the type of disquisition you've authored, your name, the name of your degree, your preference to indicate either your Major Department or Major Program, the name of said department or program (and an option within that program, if you had one), and the month and year of your final defense.

You may bold all of the text on the Title page, or none of it.

Formatting Requirements

The Title page must appear as the first page of the document.

  • Alignment – All content on the Title page must be center-aligned. Do not indent any of the text on the title page.
  • Font – The font on the Title page must use the same typeface and size as the rest of your disquisition. You may use bold font for all of the text or none of the text.
  • Page numbers – Do not include a page number on the Title page.
  • Spacing – Some sections are single-spaced whereas others double-spaced, as diagrammed below. Four lines are used to separate sections (roughly 48 pts of line spacing).
A breakdown of the title page elements with segment numbers referenced on this page.

Quick Answers

If you are using one of our templates, there are several parts of the title page that you must edit, and there are several parts that should appear exactly as they are presented in our templates. The parts you need to edit are enclosed in square brackets. Segment numbers correspond to the numbers in the image above.

  1. In segment 1, you must change the title of your disquisition.
  2. In segment 2, you must change the name of your disquisition to match the type of document it is--dissertation, thesis, or paper.
  3. In segment 3, you must include your name.
  4. In segment 4, you must edit the name of your degree.
  5. In segment 5, you should decide whether you want to include the name of your major department or program, and change the text accordingly. Additionally, you should include the name of your major department or program.
  6. In segment 6, you must include the month and year of your final defense.

Issue: Disquisition Title

The titles of all disquisitions should be aligned to the center of the page, use ALL CAPS, and begin flush with the top of the page.

  • If your title is indented using spaces or tab spaces, remove them.
  • If your title is not in ALL CAPS, select the text and use the Change Case tool in the Font section of the Home tab to change its case to ALL CAPS.
  • If your title is not flush with the top of the page, select the text, right-click it, and open the paragraph settings to set the title to be double-spaced with no line spacing above or below it. Additionally, remove any extra blank lines preceding the title.
  • The title on ProQuest must be in title case (Only Capitalize Major Words) or sentence (Only capitalize the first word of the sentence). Do not enter your title in ALL CAPS on ProQuest.

Issue: Phrasing or Spacing

Follow the requisite phrasing of our title page exactly, as demonstrated on this page and in our Format Guidelines. You can find a template of the Title page on our website to use as a reference or replacement. Segment numbers correspond to the numbers in the image above.

Segment 2: University Recognition

In this segment, only change the name of your document; do not change the spacing, alignment, or phrasing of lines 2-5 of this segment. For example:

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of the
North Dakota State University
of Agriculture and Applied Science

The text should be single-spaced, with four blank lines (48 pts of space) between this segment and the title above it, and the by-line below it by another four blank lines.

Segment 3: By-line and Name

In this segment, do not change the spacing or alignment, and only change the text for your name. Your name should be as it appears in NDSU's records; this might be your full legal name, or your preferred name. For example:

By

The College of Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies

The by-line should be double-spaced, with four blank lines (48 pts of space) between this segment and the segments above and below it. If the text for your name is double-spaced, note that the double-spacing will add extra line spacing that you should account for.

Segment 4: Statement of Fulfillment

In this segment, do not change the spacing or alignment, and only change the name of your degree, which should appear in ALL CAPS. For example:

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE

The text should be single-spaced, with four blank lines (48 pts of space) between this segment and the segments above and below it.

Segment 5: Major Department or Program

In this segment, do not change the spacing or alignment, and follow our requirements for displaying your major exactly. If you wish to include your major department, change the text accordingly; if you would rather include your major program, change the text accordingly. For example:

Major Program:
Entomology

If your program has an option, you may include that below the name of your major department or program.

Major Department:
Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Science
Option: Exercise/Nutrition Science

The text should be single-spaced, with four blank lines (48 pts of space) between this segment and the segments above and below it.

Segment 6: Defense Date & City

In this segment, do not change the spacing or alignment, and include only the month and year of your final defense. For example:

[Month and year of final defense]




Fargo, North Dakota

The text should be single-spaced, with four blank lines (48 pts of space) between this segment and the segment above it. There should also be four blank lines between your defense date and the name of our city.

Resources

You can find templates for your title page on the Guidelines, Templates, and Forms page.

Center for Writers