A List of Cool Persuasive Essay Topics for College Students


When you think about it, all essays are persuasive really. We wouldn’t sit down and actually put our hearts and souls into writing an essay if we weren’t trying to get someone to agree with us, right?

Well, persuasive essays are ones in which we very obviously—very directly try to persuade our reader to care about our topic and to do something about it.

What is the purpose of a persuasive essay?

For all of these topics below—if it is in question form, such as, “should students be required to wear uniforms—you need to choose one side of the argument, they should or they shouldn’t and argue that side from the beginning.

For example

I believe that requiring the wearing of school uniforms, especially in older students, helps to level the playing field and help students focus on their studies—not what they will wear the next day.

Then you persuade them you’re right with solid evidence.

Ten Great Topics for Persuasive Essays

  1. Students should not be allowed to have cellphones in class, at all. (you have to get your reader to agree with this point of view or you could argue it’s opposite!

    ***I won’t say this for all topics—but you can take any topic here and flip it to the opposite side.

  2. Should students be required to wear uniforms? Persuade your reader toward one point of view or another. You’ll have to chose a side.
  3. People should have to wait until the age of 18 (or 19, or 20) to begin driving to reduce texting and driving fatalities. We must do something strong to make a statement about this before there are any more fatalities due to texting.
  4. Legalization of marijuana would stimulate the economy. We might as well legalize this drug and let it stimulate our recessed economy.
  5. Should we change the laws in all states to allow people to shoot those who break into their house?
  6. We need to take action now to reduce childhood obesity in America.
  7. Should gay marriage be legalized throughout the United States?
  8. Should downloading free music and movies on sites like Pirate Bay be made illegal?
  9. Should teachers be tested more often on their skills as educators?
  10. Should we raise the buying age on violent video games to help prevent school shootings and other disasters?