Essay Topics: 100 Ideas by Type and Subject (With How to Choose)

A good essay topic is specific enough to cover in your word count, open to debate or analysis, and backed by credible sources you can actually find. This page gives you 100 essay topics across argumentative, expository, compare-and-contrast and critical analysis essays and across nursing, business, education, technology, law and psychology. It also gives thesis starters for six sample topics and a simple method for choosing one and narrowing it. Copy a topic as it stands or use it as a starting point and adapt it to your assignment brief.

How to Choose an Essay Topic

Run every topic you consider through four tests:

• Is it open to debate or analysis? A topic that is only a fact gives you nothing to argue or explain.
• Is it narrow enough? A focused topic is easier to prove in 1,500 words than a sweeping one.
• Can you find credible sources? Search your library database before you commit. If you cannot find evidence quickly, choose another topic. Our guide to finding credible academic sources shows how.
• Does it match the essay type? Each type asks something different of a topic.

Too broad is the most common problem. Narrow a topic by adding a place, a time period, a group of people or a specific angle:

Argumentative Essay Topics

Each of these takes a side. Pick the position you can support best with evidence, which is not always the one you agree with.

1. Should universities ban laptops and phones from lectures?
2. Should governments tax carbon rather than subsidize renewable energy?
3. Is a four-day working week better for both employers and employees?
4. Should voting be compulsory?
5. Should undergraduate tuition at public universities be free?
6. Should secondary schools start later in the morning?
7. Should social media companies be legally responsible for harmful content on their platforms?
8. Should employers have the right to require full-time office attendance?
9. Should junk food advertising aimed at children be banned?
10. Should animal testing be allowed for medical research?
11. Should governments introduce a universal basic income?
12. Should standardized test scores be used in university admissions?

Ready to build one of these into an essay? Follow our step-by-step argumentative essay guide.

Expository Essay Topics

These ask you to explain a subject clearly and neutrally, without taking a side. Each one names a place, a period or a mechanism, so you can cover it in one essay.

1. How does inflation affect household spending on food and housing in a country of your choice?
2. How do vaccines train the immune system?
3. How did mortgage-backed securities contribute to the 2008 financial crisis in the United States?
4. How did factory work change daily life for workers in nineteenth-century Britain?
5. How does sleep affect memory consolidation?
6. What are the main causes and effects of rapid urbanization in one country of your choice?
7. How does a bill become law in your country?
8. What is the role of a central bank in controlling inflation?

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Choose two subjects that share enough ground to compare, then decide your points of comparison before you draft.

1. Online learning and classroom learning for undergraduate students
2. Public and private healthcare systems in two countries of your choice
3. Renewable and fossil fuel energy in terms of cost and reliability
4. Transformational and transactional leadership in a healthcare or business setting
5. Qualitative and quantitative methods for studying student wellbeing
6. Behaviourism and cognitive psychology as explanations of learning
7. Economic outcomes in Nordic mixed economies and in the United States
8. Traditional media and social media as sources of news for young adults

📌 Need help turning a topic into a finished essay? Our expert writers can help → — essays across all subjects.

Nursing and Health Essay Topics

These suit nursing, midwifery and health courses. Check your brief for whether you need to focus on one country, and use recent sources, ideally from the last five to six years.

1. Should safe nurse staffing ratios be mandated by law?
2. Should vaccination be mandatory for healthcare workers?
3. Should advanced practice nurses be allowed to practise and prescribe independently?
4. Is the nursing shortage best addressed through recruitment or retention?
5. Should 12-hour shifts be limited to protect patient safety?
6. Should assisted dying be legalized, and what should the nurse's role be?
7. Should healthcare be universal?
8. How should a nurse balance patient autonomy and beneficence when a patient refuses treatment?
9. Does artificial intelligence improve or threaten patient care?
10. Should a nursing degree be the minimum entry qualification for registered nurses?
11. Is reflective practice effective in improving clinical competence?
12. Should mental health receive equal funding priority with physical health?
13. How effective are structured handover tools such as SBAR in preventing communication errors?
14. What are the risks and benefits of giving patients immediate access to their test results?
15. How should a nurse respond when a colleague's practice appears unsafe?

Business Essay Topics

Good business topics pair a real-world question with a theory or framework you can apply.

1. Is corporate social responsibility genuine or a marketing exercise?
2. Should companies be required to publish gender pay gap data?
3. Do zero-hours contracts benefit workers or employers?
4. Is maximizing shareholder value the right goal for a company?
5. How does branding influence consumer choice?
6. Should businesses be held responsible for labour conditions in their supply chains?
7. Is the gig economy good for workers?
8. Do monopolies in the technology sector harm consumers?
9. How can small businesses compete with online giants?
10. Does diversity in leadership improve company performance?

Education Essay Topics

These work well for education, teaching and social science courses.

1. Should homework be abolished in primary schools?
2. Is bilingual education beneficial for children?
3. Should schools teach financial literacy as a compulsory subject?
4. Do grades motivate or demotivate secondary school students?
5. Should university admissions take socioeconomic background into account?
6. Is vocational education valued as highly as university education?
7. Should AI tools be allowed in student assessments?
8. Does reducing class size improve learning outcomes in primary schools?
9. Should universities prioritize teaching quality over research output?

Technology and AI Essay Topics

Technology moves quickly, so use recent sources and check that your facts are still current.

1. Should AI-generated content be clearly labelled?
2. Does heavy social media use weaken face-to-face relationships among young adults?
3. Should facial recognition be banned in public spaces?
4. Should smartphones be banned in primary and secondary schools?
5. Who should own the data that users create online?
6. Should children under 16 be restricted from using social media?
7. Is online privacy a right or a trade-off?
8. Should self-driving cars be allowed on public roads?
9. Should employers be allowed to monitor employees' devices and communications?

Law and Society Essay Topics

Many of these are contested, so engage fairly with the strongest opposing view.

1. Should drugs be decriminalized?
2. Is prison an effective way to reduce crime?
3. Should hate speech be limited by law?
4. Should people have a legal right to be forgotten online?
5. Should juveniles be tried as adults for serious crimes?
6. Does positive discrimination promote equality?
7. Do wealthy countries have a duty to accept refugees?
8. Should judges rather than juries decide complex fraud trials?
9. Are mandatory minimum sentences fair?

Psychology Essay Topics

These suit psychology and social science courses and call for peer-reviewed evidence.

1. Nature versus nurture: which shapes personality more?
2. What does recent research show about the link between social media use and anxiety in adolescents?
3. How does childhood attachment shape adult relationships?
4. Are standardized intelligence tests culturally biased?
5. Do violent video games increase aggression?
6. How does cognitive behavioural therapy compare with medication for common mental health problems?
7. Does multitasking reduce productivity?
8. How does stress affect academic performance?
9. Are eyewitness testimonies reliable?
10. What does the Milgram obedience experiment reveal about authority and ethics?

Critical Analysis Essay Topics

A critical analysis assesses how well a text, study or argument works. Choose one specific article, speech or document, then judge its evidence, reasoning and limits.

1. How convincing is the evidence in a journal article of your choice on cognitive behavioural therapy?
2. How well does a news article on a current policy issue support its argument?
3. How effectively does a company's sustainability report support its claims?
4. A critical analysis of a government health policy document from one country
5. How persuasive is the argument in a landmark speech of your choice?
6. A critical analysis of a nursing practice guideline: its evidence base, strengths and limitations
7. A critique of the methodology of a research study on student wellbeing
8. A critical analysis of a theory used in your discipline, such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs
9. How fairly does a documentary of your choice present both sides of its argument?
10. A critical analysis of the persuasion techniques in an advertising campaign

New to this essay type? Read our guides to the critical analysis essay and to analyzing an article.

Sample Topics With Thesis Starters and Sources

A topic becomes useful once you know what you would argue and where the evidence lives. Here are six examples. Replace the bracketed reasons with points from your own research.

From Topic to Thesis

A topic is not yet an essay. Turn it into a question, then into a thesis that answers it:

1. Topic: Laptops in lectures
2. Question: Should universities ban laptops and phones from lectures?
3. Thesis: Universities should restrict laptop and phone use in lectures, because [reason 1], [reason 2] and [reason 3].

Fill the bracketed reasons with points you can support from your own research. Then plan your structure with our essay outline and structure guide. If your assignment asks you to analyze one situation instead, see our case study guide.

FAQs

How do I choose a good essay topic?

Start with your brief, then pick a topic you can find strong sources on. A good topic is specific, debatable or open to analysis, and suited to your word count. Test it by checking that you can state a clear question or position in one sentence.

What makes a topic debatable?

A topic is debatable when reasonable, informed people could disagree about it. If nobody could sensibly say "I disagree", you have a fact, not an argument.

How narrow should my topic be?

Narrow enough that you can cover it with evidence in your word count. Adding a place, a time period, a group of people or a specific angle usually turns a broad subject into a workable one.

Should I choose a topic I agree with?

Not necessarily. Tutors mark the quality of your reasoning and evidence, not your opinion. Choose the side you can support best, even if it is not the one you personally hold.

Can I use these topics directly?

Yes, but adapt them to your brief, narrow them where needed and build the essay on your own research. Check with your tutor if your course requires an approved topic.

Can the same topic work for different essay types?

Often, with a different question. For example, school start times can be argumentative ("Should schools start later?") or expository ("How does sleep affect learning?"). The essay type changes what you do with the topic.