College ruled paper
Seven point one millimetres between lines — the US high school and college standard, at true size.
College ruled is nine thirty-seconds of an inch between lines, which comes to 7.14 mm and is advertised everywhere as 7.1. It is the default ruling for American high school and university paper, and the reason it became the default is straight arithmetic: it fits about a third more lines on a page than wide ruled does, which matters when you are taking lecture notes at speed.
It suits handwriting that has stopped growing. Most people write comfortably at college ruling from around the age of twelve, and adults with small handwriting often find even this generous. Below it, narrow ruled at 6.4 mm is the next step down, and it is where most printed notebooks stop.
This page opens the lined paper generator already set to college ruling. Everything else — the margin line, the line colour, how many lines fit the sheet — is still yours to change, and the spacing measures 7.1 mm on the paper with a ruler provided the print dialogue is not scaling to fit.
The margin line, the line colour and how far down the first line starts are all still yours to set — this page only fixes the spacing. That matters more than it sounds, because the margin line is the part of a ruled sheet that printed pads get wrong most often for anyone left-handed.
Lined paper by ruling
- Lined paper, any rulingThe full generator — any spacing, plus handwriting guides
- Wide ruled paper8.7 mm line spacing · for larger handwriting
- Narrow ruled paper6.4 mm line spacing · the tightest common ruling
Questions
What is the exact spacing of college ruled paper?
Nine thirty-seconds of an inch, which is 7.14 mm. It is universally quoted as 7.1 mm and that is the figure this generator draws.
Is college ruled the same as medium ruled?
Yes. Medium ruled is the older name for the same 7.1 mm spacing; the two terms are used interchangeably, with "college ruled" dominant in the US and "medium ruled" more common in stationery catalogues.
How do I check the ruling printed at 7.1 mm?
Measure across ten line gaps rather than one: that span should be 71 mm. A single 7.1 mm gap is far too short to tell apart from a 6.8 mm one by eye, and a printer shrinking to fit takes off about that much.
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