Back to all blog posts
How To Guides

200 Fresh and Inspiring Proposal Essay Topics You Haven’t Seen Before!

proposal essay topics

You’ve just been assigned to write a proposal essay and are struggling to choose a topic. You know that a proposal essay is a paper where you present a solution to a specific problem, but you’re having a problem narrowing things down. Don’t worry, all paper writers have this problem from time to time, but I have you covered!

Developing a good topic is one of the most important parts of how to write a proposal essay, so keep reading for 200 examples arranged by category. These examples should help with the brainstorming process and will also help you with how to title an essay.

There’s a lot to choose from, so keep your mind open as you read!

Easy Proposal Essay Topics

  • How to alleviate homelessness
  • The best plan to tackle littering in your community
  • Effective ways to motivate unmotivated students
  • Tools to overcome family problems
  • The best way to take care of a sick pet
  • How to reduce teen truancy
  • The best way to overcome a breakup
  • How to get the most out of a car that’s well past its prime
  • Techniques to overcome social anxiety
  • The best way to get a raise at work

Good Proposal Essay Topics

  • An effective plan to reduce police corruption
  • Ideas that will get kids more interested in math
  • A detailed plan to get out of credit card debt
  • How to make international sanctions more effective
  • How to significantly reduce waste in the federal government
  • A plan that will make air travel quicker and more efficient
  • How to expand the Interstate system without hurting the environment
  • A plan to reduce recidivism by former prisoners
  • How to reduce the problem of identity theft
  • How to deal with the ethical considerations of cloning

Proposal Argument Essay Topics

  • The government should play a larger role in the fight against obesity
  • More drugs should be legalized in order to reduce drug crimes
  • Harsher laws against drugs should be enacted to reduce crime
  • American high schools should offer more vocational training to reduce unemployment
  • Speed limits should be lowered to reduce highway accidents
  • Doctors who perform plastic surgery should be held to a higher standard to avoid patient complications
  • Childcare courses should be taught in high school to reduce teen pregnancy
  • Police should be given more, not less, leeway when dealing with criminals in order to reduce crime
  • Individuals should form “neighborhood watch” groups to reduce crime
  • Parents should take daily walks with their children to promote healthy lifestyles

Proposal Essay Topics with Solutions

  • The solution to overpopulation through family planning
  • The solution to crime by increased prison sentences
  • The solution to housing problems through government vouchers
  • The solution to nuclear war via “mutually assured destruction”
  • The solution to language barriers through translation apps
  • The solution to illegal immigration by increased border security
  • The solution to drug addiction by increased government spending on treatment
  • The solution to school violence by adding more counselors

Proposal Essay Ideas by Academic Level

Proposal Essay Topics for High School Students

  • Techniques to eliminate distractions while studying
  • How to keep your social life from interfering with your grades
  • The best way to raise your college entrance exam scores
  • A plan to alleviate bullying in high schools
  • How to treat depression among high school students
  • An idea that will allow high school students to create more flexible schedules
  • How to eliminate hunger among teenagers
  • The best way for teens to overcome a lack of spending money
  • Techniques for loners to make friends
  • How to alleviate the problem of teenagers’ poor driving skills

Proposal Essay Topics for College Students

  • How to eliminate the problem of binge drinking
  • A personalized plan to allocate time better before an exam
  • How to pay for college without incurring too much debt
  • A government plan to reduce the cost of college
  • How to eliminate waste in university administrations
  • The best way to create on-campus housing for all students
  • How to solve the lack of parking on university campuses
  • A plan to significantly reduce crime on a particular college campus
  • Techniques for college students to deal with stress

Proposal Essay Topics for Graduate and Advanced Degree Students

  • Techniques to score higher on the GRE exam
  • How to determine the best graduate and law schools for you
  • How to overcome problems in the graduate school application process
  • A plan to make it through medical school in the fewest number of years
  • How to raise a family properly while working on a graduate degree
  • The best way to overcome conflicts with your professors
  • The best way to eat healthy on a graduate student’s budget
  • How to overcome procrastination when doing your graduate research

Proposal Essay Ideas by Subject

Science and Technology

  • A plan to bring the Internet to all rural areas of America
  • How to properly control advances in AI
  • The best way to educate the elderly about computers
  • How to “go green” without destroying the economy
  • Ideas on how to reduce overpopulation by colonizing the Moon
  • How to use computers to make driving safer
  • How to use new technologies to heat and cool homes more efficiently
  • Techniques to use technology to make difficult parts of your daily life easier
  • A plan to give laptops or computers to underprivileged children
  • The best way to breed aggression out of aggressive dog breeds

Business and Economics

  • How to raise money to start a business when you’re broke
  • The best way to save money on a fixed income
  • A plan to make more young people entrepreneurs
  • How to make capitalism work for the greatest number of people
  • The best way to fix the minimum wage problem in America
  • How to find the right balance between employees’ desires to work from home and companies’ need to have them in the office
  • Techniques to protect investments during a recession
  • A plan to develop a global currency that is fair to all nations
  • How to teach young people about the value of money
  • The best way to increase investment in a poor nation

Health and Medicine

  • A plan for schools to reduce childhood obesity
  • Develop an exercise program to strengthen weak bones
  • A plan to combat vaping among young people
  • How to make sure that everyone gets the healthcare they need
  • Techniques to end sleep deprivation
  • The best way for local communities to fight mental illness
  • Develop a diet that alleviates stomach problems
  • The best way to bring quality healthcare to isolated regions
  • The most efficient way to develop new cancer medications

Environmental Studies

  • How to get kids involved in picking up litter in the community
  • The best way to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans
  • How to encourage recycling on construction sites
  • A plan to significantly reduce smog in a major city
  • How to get more people to use public transportation
  • The most effective way to end deforestation
  • How to find a balance between hunting and the preservation of animal species
  • Finding more environmentally friendly ways to mine cobalt and lithium used for electric car batteries
  • How to prevent wild animals from being killed by wind turbines
  • The best way to prevent wildfires from destroying homes

Arts and Humanities

  • A plan to increase art appreciation among high school students
  • How to increase foreign language knowledge in Americans
  • The best way to teach Shakespeare to uninterested students
  • A plan to increase government funding of museums without raising taxes
  • A plan to get private companies to invest more in artists
  • The best way to get people to appreciate classical music
  • How to incorporate literary studies into a more practical based curriculum
  • Finding the right balance of humanities and hard sciences in college courses
  • Techniques to help you identify symbolism in important fictional books and short stories

Sociology and Psychology

  • How to treat mental illness without drugs
  • A plan to eliminate gender discrimination on college campuses
  • The best way to reduce the societal stigma of seeing a therapist
  • The best way to develop a better understanding between people with different political ideas
  • How to integrate individuals with mental illness into society
  • Techniques to overcome having nightmares
  • The best way to eliminate misunderstandings at work
  • Develop a new method to alleviate depression among the elderly
  • A plan to build trust back between the police and citizens in certain neighborhoods
  • How to overcome the psychological scars of post-traumatic stress

Sports and Recreation

  • A plan to pay for professional sports stadiums without raising the citizens’ taxes
  • How to reduce the problem of steroids in professional sports
  • How to reduce the impact of betting on college sports
  • A plan to raise outdoor awareness among kids
  • The best way to promote a more active lifestyle among seniors
  • Develop a plan to promote drug and alcohol-free recreational choices to teens
  • How to limit the negative influences of professional athletes on children
  • The best way to promote gender equality in sports
  • Techniques to make high school sports more applicable to the “real world”
  • How to ensure that college athletes are given their fair share of the revenue universities make from college sports.

History and Cultural Studies

  • The best way to teach high school students about Adolf Hitler
  • How to teach college students about the idea of “colonialism”
  • A culturally sensitive plan for anthropologists to study modern tribal people
  • The best way to present human remains in museums
  • How to teach students about the impact of wars throughout history
  • A plan to teach students objectively about communism
  • How to keep the negative aspects of history from repeating themselves
  • The best way to teach students about religious conflicts throughout history
  • How to accept cultural differences without assuming one group is superior
  • A plan to accept cultural diversity while still having a national identity
  • The best way to teach the idea of jihad in history to college students

Technology and Digital Media

  • A plan to get kids to spend more time outside and less time on their devices
  • How to develop computers that the disabled can use better
  • The best way to make computers more user-friendly
  • A way to make social media more conducive to learning
  • The best way to protect children online while limiting censorship
  • How to make cloud access free for everyone
  • A plan to teach blockchain technology to high school students
  • A plan to increase computer literacy among senior citizens
  • The best way the government can protect the country from cyber attacks
  • How to lower the costs of laptop computers

Engineering and Design

  • How to design a safe apartment building that can house the maximum number of people
  • A plan to build homes in the desert that are not connected to the grid
  • How to build settlements in the rainforests that are eco-friendly
  • A plan to build skyscrapers that are terrorist proof
  • The most effective way to rebuild cities that have been devastated by war
  • How to build cities in the oceans
  • How to avoid development on ancient burial grounds
  • Building new neighborhoods in a way that deters crime
  • A plan to build greenspaces in older, well-developed cities
  • The best way to educate more competent future engineers
  • How to design eco-friendly buildings that are also aesthetically pleasing

Ethics and Philosophy

  • How to maintain a balance between good ethics and profits in business
  • A plan to increase ethical considerations in a medical lab
  • How to balance high school students’ privacy with the rights of their parents
  • The best way to live a virtuous life in a modern city
  • Techniques to maintain religious faith amid modern temptations
  • How to tell others respectively when they’re wrong
  • The best way to help others while helping yourself
  • How to proselytize your faith without offending others
  • A plan to make the legal system fairer

Agriculture and Food Science

  • The best way to ensure food security in a nation
  • How to prevent livestock runoff from polluting waterways
  • An alternative to genetically modified foods
  • The best farming practice to reduce environmental destruction
  • How to produce the most food possible for the least amount of money
  • A plan to modernize farming in developing countries
  • How to lower the costs of artificial irrigation
  • The best balance of harvesting trees and planting replacements
  • How to get more people to eat kelp

Fashion and Design

  • A plan to get high school students to dress more modestly
  • How to ensure that every child in your community has enough clothes
  • Develop an app that allows people to try on clothes with their phones
  • How to make the fashion industry more eco-friendly
  • How to eliminate “sweat shops” in developing nations
  • The best way to influence positive fashion standards
  • A way to lower the costs of high-end fashion
  • A plan to ensure that fashion models are healthy
  • Develop an app that allows people to design their own fashions

Music and Performing Arts

  • A government plan to support positive music styles
  • How to get kids interested in playing musical instruments
  • A plan to use music therapy for psychiatric patients
  • Using music to bridge cultural gaps
  • How to increase support for local orchestras and symphonies
  • How to use music to help those with disabilities
  • A plan to use music to grow healthier crops
  • How to use music to increase lagging sales at a business

Problem Solving for Success

These 200 fresh and inspiring proposal essay topics should give you a good start in your proposal essay writing journey. Just remember, whenever or wherever you see a problem, there’s probably a solution for it, and that solution is potentially a proposal for a proposal essay.

So, go out there and use your knowledge to propose some solutions for the many problems that we face today in the world!

Elissa Smart Elissa Smart
Call us (Toll Free)