How To Do A Title Page Apa | Student Paper Setup

If your paper starts with a messy first page, the rest of it can feel off before the reader reaches line one. A clean APA title page fixes that. It gives your paper a formal start, shows that you followed class rules, and saves you from small format slips that cost easy points.

For most class papers, APA 7 uses a student title page. That means you place the paper title, your name, your school, the course number and name, your instructor’s name, and the due date in the center of the page. The page number sits in the top right corner. A running head is not part of the student version unless your instructor asks for it.

What Goes On An APA Title Page

An APA title page is plain on purpose. No clip art. No bold box around the title. No extra lines that try to make it look fancy. The page should look neat, balanced, and easy to scan.

For a student paper, use these parts in this order:

• Paper title
• Your name
• School name
• Course number and course name
• Instructor name
• Assignment due date
• Page number in the header

APA keeps the student title page simple: centered lines in the right order, one page number in the header, and no running head unless a class asks for one.

APA Title Page Format For Student Papers

The full block of text belongs in the upper half of the page, centered, and double-spaced. APA style also uses standard one-inch margins and a readable font. You can usually stick with 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or another font your school accepts.

Your title should sit about three or four lines down from the top margin. Place it in bold and use title case. That means you capitalize the main words, not every single letter. Your name goes on the next double-spaced line, then the school, then the course, instructor, and date.

How The Title Itself Should Look

Keep the title clear and direct. Most teachers want a title that tells the reader what the paper is about without sounding stiff or stuffed. Skip underlining, quotation marks, and extra punctuation unless the title itself needs them.

A strong paper title often does three jobs at once:

• Names the topic
• Hints at the angle of the paper
• Stays short enough to read in one glance

Say your paper is about sleep and grades. “Sleep Duration and Academic Performance Among First-Year Students” reads better than “A Paper About Sleep.” It also looks more at home on an APA title page.

Page Number, Font, And Spacing

The page number belongs in the header, flush right. Start with page 1 on the title page itself. The rest of the paper continues the numbering from there. Use double spacing for the title-page text just as you do in the body of the paper.

The broader APA paper format rules also call for one-inch margins on all sides and a consistent font across the paper. If your instructor gives a house style that changes the font or date style, follow that class rule.

Build The Page Step By Step

You do not need special software tricks to get this right. In Word or Google Docs, the process is short once you know the order.

1. Set all margins to one inch.
2. Choose an approved font and size.
3. Turn on double spacing for the whole page.
4. Insert the page number in the header and align it right.
5. Click into the body of page 1 and center the text.
6. Move down about three or four lines from the top.
7. Type the paper title in bold title case.
8. On the next lines, type your name, school, course, instructor, and due date.

That’s the basic build. Once the text is in place, the last job is to check spacing and line breaks. Many title-page errors come from one extra tap of the Enter button or a page header that starts on page 2 by mistake.

Word And Google Docs Tip

Center alignment and double spacing should apply to the title-page text only, not the page number in the header. If the header jumps to the center with the body text, click back into the header and set it to right alignment again. That tiny slip shows up a lot when students build the page in a rush.

If you want a visual model, Purdue OWL’s general APA format page shows how student and professional papers are laid out in APA 7.

Element Order At A Glance

Use this table when you want to check the page line by line before you submit the paper.

Title Page Part	What To Enter	Format Note
Page number	1	Header, flush right
Paper title	Your full paper title	Centered, bold, title case
Author line	Your first and last name	Centered, no titles or degrees
School	Your college or university name	Centered on its own line
Course	Course number and course name	Centered, same font as paper
Instructor	Your teacher’s full name	Centered on its own line
Due date	Month day, year or class style	Centered, match class rules
Spacing	Double-spaced lines	No extra blank lines between items
Margins	One inch on all sides	Same as the full paper

Student Paper Vs Professional Paper

Many students get tripped up because they find a sample page meant for journal work, not class work. APA has both student and professional title pages. The student version is the one most college classes want. The professional version adds an author note and often includes a running head.

If your assignment sheet does not mention a running head, stick with the student setup. The official APA title page setup page breaks out that student-paper rule clearly. Adding extra parts “just in case” can make the page less correct, not more correct.

When A Teacher Gives Different Rules

Class directions beat the default APA setup. If your teacher wants the date in day-month-year order, wants your student ID, or wants the title placed lower on the page, use the class sheet. APA style leaves room for local class rules.

That is why a title page should be the last part you check before you submit. By then, you already know the course details, final title, and due date, so you can make the page match the assignment with no guesswork.

Common Title Page Mistakes And Easy Fixes

Most APA title pages miss the mark in the same few ways. The good news is that each one takes only a moment to clean up.

• Wrong title case: Capitalize the main words in the title.
• Extra bold text: Only the paper title should be bold on a standard student page.
• Running head added by habit: Leave it out unless the class asks for it.
• Degrees in the author line: Use your name only, not “B.A.” or “PhD.”
• Extra spacing: Keep every line double-spaced with no bonus gaps.
• Page number missing: Start numbering on the title page, not page 2.

Common Slip	What It Looks Like	Clean Fix
Running head on a student page	Header says “RUNNING HEAD” or short title	Delete it and keep only page 1 at right
Author credentials added	“Jane Smith, B.A.”	Use “Jane Smith” only
Title too low or too high	Text hugs the top or middle of page	Start three or four lines from top
Single spacing	Lines look cramped	Set the full page to double spacing
Course line incomplete	“English”	Use number and name, such as “ENG 101: English Composition”

Final Check Before You Submit

A title page is short, yet it carries a lot of little format rules. A one-minute check can catch nearly all of them.

• Page number starts on the title page
• Title is centered, bold, and in title case
• All text is double-spaced
• Your name appears with no degree or role
• School, course, instructor, and due date each have their own line
• No running head unless your class asks for one
• Font and margins match the rest of the paper

Once this page is clean, the rest of your paper has a strong start. It looks orderly, reads like it belongs in APA 7, and shows your instructor that you paid close attention to the format from the first page onward.