Colorado State University Thesis and Dissertation Format: What the Graduate School Requires

Help Me Bro is not affiliated with Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins. This page covers only the Colorado State University Graduate School in Fort Collins. “CSU” also stands for the California State University system and other schools, and their rules are not covered here.

Colorado State runs one university-wide guide for every thesis and dissertation, so you do not need to hunt for a separate college template. That makes the rules easier to follow, but a few of them are easy to get wrong in Word. Below are the ones that catch students out, then a checklist you can run against your file.

One rule comes before all the others: the Graduate School’s current guide always wins. It tells students to follow the current guide, not a department handout, another CSU web page, or a thesis already published in the repository, since those may not meet today’s requirements. Guides change, so open the official page before you submit and compare it with what is written here. The main source is Organizing and Formatting Your Thesis and Dissertation, and the wider Thesis and Dissertation hub links to the rest.

The Colorado State University Details Students Most Often Miss

The copyright page is not numbered and not counted. It sits right after the title page, and the abstract that follows is page ii.
The abstract has a fixed layout. Heading, three single-spaced blank lines, the title, three more blank lines, then double-spaced text.
Hyperlinked text must be blue, with an exception for multi-line links such as a linked table of contents, which stay black.
The abstract appears only once. There is one abstract, and acknowledgments belong in the preliminary pages only.
You get one preliminary review. The Graduate School checks your PDF by email once before ProQuest submission, so it pays to arrive prepared.

Colorado State Dissertation Page Order

Your document has three parts, in this order: preliminaries, the text, and supplementaries.

Preliminaries

The title page, copyright page and abstract are required, and so is the table of contents. A preface, an autobiography and a dedication are optional, as are lists such as a list of tables or figures. Acknowledgments go here and nowhere else in the document.

Text

This is your chapters, the body of the work.

Supplementaries

References, appendices, a glossary and a list of abbreviations come after the text.

Source: Graduate School formatting guide.

Preliminary Pages at Colorado State: Numbering and Headings

Preliminary pages use lower-case roman numerals, centered 0.5 inch from the bottom of the page. The title page carries no visible number, and the copyright page that follows it is neither numbered nor counted, so the abstract becomes page ii. This is the step that most often throws Word’s automatic numbering off, because the section break has to skip the copyright page without shifting the count.

Preliminary headings are in ALL CAPS, centered 1 inch from the top of the page, and not bold. The Graduate School also publishes a page numbering guide (PDF) that shows the pattern. Check the date on the PDF against the main guide and defer to the main guide if they differ.

Setting Up the Colorado State Abstract Correctly

The abstract is the page where formatting slips are easiest to spot, because the layout is so specific:

The heading reads ABSTRACT, in ALL CAPS and not bold.
Leave three single-spaced blank lines.
Type the title in ALL CAPS, centered.
Leave three more blank lines.
Start the abstract text, double-spaced and without bold.

The title must match the title page and the GS30 submission form exactly. A mismatch in wording or capitalization is an easy thing to fix now and an annoying one to fix after approval. Source: Graduate School formatting guide.

Body Text, Fonts, Margins and Hyperlinks at Colorado State

Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches. Landscape is allowed for wide figures or tables.
Font: one font and one size throughout, such as Times New Roman or Arial, between 10 and 12 point, in black.
Hyperlinks: linked text is blue. Multi-line hyperlinks, such as a linked table of contents, stay black.
Margins: 1 inch on all sides.
Text placement: run text down to the bottom margin, except where a chapter ends.
Page numbers: the body and references use Arabic numerals starting at 1, centered 0.5 inch from the bottom.

If a chapter is your own published or submitted work, give all the author and publication information in a footnote on that chapter’s first page. Source: Graduate School formatting guide.

If your reference style is APA, the style rules sit alongside the university rules and do not replace them. See the APA 7 dissertation format guide for the citation side.

From Review to Approval: The Colorado State Submission Process

The Graduate School offers one preliminary PDF formatting review by email before you submit to ProQuest. Any later revisions go through ProQuest. Once your document is approved, it is locked, so what you submit at that stage is what stays.

You also complete the GS30 Thesis/Dissertation Submission form, which includes an optional embargo request, by the term deadline. Find the form on the Graduate School forms page, and see the Graduate School’s current deadlines page for dates. A LaTeX template exists, but the Graduate School does not provide LaTeX support, so budget time for troubleshooting if you choose it.

Colorado State Pre-Submission Checklist

I used the current Graduate School guide, not a department handout or an older published thesis.
The order is preliminaries, text, then supplementaries.
The title page, copyright page, abstract and table of contents are all present.
There is only one abstract, and acknowledgments appear only in the preliminary pages.
Preliminary pages use lower-case roman numerals, centered 0.5 inch from the bottom.
The copyright page follows the title page and is neither numbered nor counted, so the abstract is page ii.
Preliminary headings are ALL CAPS, centered 1 inch from the top, and not bold.
The abstract has three blank lines before and after the title, double-spaced text and no bold.
The abstract title matches the title page and the GS30 form.
The page is 8.5 x 11 inches, with landscape used only for wide figures or tables.
One font and size run throughout, 10 to 12 point, in black.
Hyperlinked text is blue, except multi-line links such as a linked table of contents.
Margins are 1 inch on all sides, with text running to the bottom margin except at chapter ends.
The body and references use Arabic numerals from 1, centered 0.5 inch from the bottom.
Any chapter built from my own published or submitted work has a footnote with the author and publication details on its first page.
I am sending my PDF for the one preliminary review, and the GS30 form is ready by the term deadline.

Why does my Colorado State abstract start on page ii if the copyright page comes before it?

The copyright page follows the title page but is neither numbered nor counted. That leaves the abstract as page ii. In Word, this usually means placing a section break after the title page and handling the copyright page so it does not take a number. Check your result against the Graduate School’s page numbering guide before submitting.

Do hyperlinks really have to be blue in a Colorado State dissertation?

Yes, hyperlinked text should be blue. The exception is multi-line hyperlinks, such as a linked table of contents, which stay black. Everything else in the document stays black. If Word turns your links a different color, change them to blue manually and recheck the guide’s current wording before you submit.

How many times will the Graduate School review my formatting before ProQuest?

The Graduate School offers one preliminary PDF formatting review by email before you submit to ProQuest. Later revisions go through ProQuest, and once your document is approved it is locked. Because there is a single review, it helps to run a full checklist first so the review catches only small things.

Can I use the formatting of a thesis already published by someone in my department?

It is risky. The Graduate School says to follow its current guide, and warns that department guides, other CSU pages and previously published ETDs may not meet current rules. A published thesis may reflect an older requirement. Use the current official guide as your reference and treat any older example only as a loose model.

Does this page cover California State University dissertations?

No. This page covers Colorado State University in Fort Collins only. California State University and other schools abbreviated CSU have their own graduate offices and requirements. If your school is a different CSU, use that school’s official guide, and do not apply the Colorado State rules from this page to your document.

Does Ahsan fix the formatting in my Word file for me?

No. Ahsan reads your file against the Colorado State guide and leaves comments and tracked changes in Word. You then make each change yourself, and the work remains yours. He is not affiliated with the university and does not guarantee Graduate School approval, since only the Graduate School decides that.

Checking Your File Against the Colorado State Guide

I’m Ahsan Irfan, and I can read your Word file against this school’s guide and leave comments and tracked changes where something does not match. You make the changes yourself, so the document stays your own work. Formatting checks are charged at the same per-1,000-word rates as editing, which you can see on the pricing page.

I am not affiliated with the university, and I cannot promise the Graduate School will approve your document. The Graduate School decides that. For other schools’ rules, start from the formatting overview. To check a file, send the word count, deadline and document through the quote form.