So when you walk into class and your professor says you’re going to do something new today, your heart starts beating faster, and it feels like there are butterflies in your stomach.

Then, your instructor pops the question—”Will you write a proposal essay?

You might not think you’re ready to take the plunge into proposal essays just yet, but don’t get cold feet! This type of essay can be super easy (and also pretty fun) to write.

All you need is the right topic.

The right topic involves planning, research, and passion. Below, I’ll show you how to choose the right topic and give you some example proposal essay topics that you can either use as is or use as inspiration to come up with your own topic.

But First, What Is a Proposal Essay?

Before you try to find that perfect topic from the sea of potential proposal essay topics (and certainly before you try to write one), it’s important to understand exactly what a proposal essay is.

Simply put, a proposal essay identifies a problem and suggests a solution to that problem. It’s a type of argumentative essay, but with a slightly different format and more research.

Proposal essays are common in business, but also if you’re in business or in science.

Typically, these types of essays are not a timed, in-class writing assignment where you’re trying to beat the clock. Instead, they require more time and research in order to formulate arguments and find supporting evidence.

Ultimately, your goal is to persuade the reader that your proposal is not only viable but one worth pursuing. For a more in-depth overview, check out this awesome SlideShare.

What to Consider When Selecting Proposal Essay Topics

The number of different proposal essay topics out there is pretty vast, so naturally, the essays themselves will differ. However, here are a few common components (and some dos and don’ts!) to consider when you’re narrowing down proposal essay topics to find the perfect match.

Choose something that interests you

For many types of essays, you can fake it till you make it. But for proposal essays, it will be a huge advantage for you to select a topic you actually care about. You’re most likely going to be spending a significant portion of time researching and writing this essay.

It’ll be much more enjoyable if you have some passion for the subject matter. Your reader will be able to tell too. Passion comes through in writing—picking a proposal essay topic that’s interesting to you makes your essay more interesting to the reader.

DON’T: Write about how to get your hair untangled or an effective way to clean a litter box. These topics are boring—and much too simple.

DO: Write about something that could influence you or someone you know. If you have siblings in grade school, write about education. For example, how can children get a good physical education in elementary school?

Spend a lot of time on social media? Use your time productively while you’re there, and mine social media for a topic that interests you.

Choose a proposal essay topic that has support

As I said before, you’re going to be doing a lot of research in order to write your essay properly, so it helps if the topic already has existing literature.

Choosing a proposal essay topic that has both supporting and dissenting research is usually best. Then you can choose which side of the argument you want to tackle.

DON’T: Write about something that’s purely opinion with no facts to back it up. For example, how to make the most out of your Saturday afternoon is not a good topic (although we all know the answer is “sleeping in and watching cartoons”).

DO: Choose a topic with some big, juicy facts you can sink your teeth into. For example, how to fund more educational television like Sesame Street, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and the Magic School Bus lets you still talk about television, but in a structured, fact-based way.

Bonus Tip: When you’re researching, make sure to take good notes. Include the bibliographic information and the page number you found the information on. This will make citations much easier, especially if you’re referencing books and articles from the library.

Pick something that’s actually an argument

Because proposal essays are a type of argumentative essay, you want to be sure the essay is worthy of an argument. Choosing a topic that is too one-sided is, frankly, really boring and doesn’t serve your purpose well.

When writing your essay, you’ll want to address opposing viewpoints. That way you can present a well-rounded proposal. This lets your reader know you have considered all sides of a given topic and have constructed the best proposal given all the variables at work.

You’ll be able to tell if an argument has one side because you won’t actually be able to write a proposal essay about it. It would turn into either a process essay or an argumentative essay (and not a very good one, at that).

DON’T: Choose something like how to make a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. Sure, everyone has a slightly different way of doing it, but it turns into a process essay, not a proposal. Plus, choosing between different grilled cheese methods doesn’t really count as a problem that needs a proposed solution.

DO: Pick something like the ways that farmers and corporations improve the lives of dairy cows. That’s a problem that needs a solution—and it’s a much better topic for your proposal essay.

Consider your audience

Remember, proposal essays serve a purpose outside of academia. So even if you’re writing this for a class and only your teacher will see it, pretend like there’s a more realistic reader who will be deciding whether your proposal is worth investing time and resources into.

Understanding your audience not only makes the writing process easier but also helps you choose the right topic from the many possible proposal essay topics.

DON’T: Choose a topic with an audience you’re not comfortable with. For example, if your audience is a group of academics but you’re terrible at academic writing, it might be best to choose a different topic.

DO: Pick a topic that has an audience you can relate to. For instance, if you’re passionate about and good at writing about social issues, and your audience is a group of volunteer workers, choosing a proposal essay topic about society might be in your best interest.

30 Proposal Essay Topics That Are Easy and Fun to Write

Now that you have an idea about what a proposal essay is and how to choose the right topic to write your own essay, here are some examples of proposal essay topics.

You can write about these topics as is, modify them, or simply use them to get you in the right mindset to come up with your own topic.

Education proposal topics

1. What can be done to create a more well-rounded curriculum for middle and high school students?

2. How can teachers improve sex education courses?

3. In what ways can foreign language courses be improved?

4. How should students be graded?

5. How can schools better understand and accommodate different learning styles?

Government proposal topics

1. How can the government better handle illegal immigration?

2. What should be done to lower the national debt?

3. What could be done to make the electoral system more effective?

4. How can the government make programs such as welfare, Medicaid, and Social Security more effective?

5. How can state and federal governments lower the incarceration rate?

Parenting proposal topics

1. How can parents raise their children to have a sense of humility as opposed to entitlement?

2. What is the most effective way to discipline a child?

3. How can parents encourage their children to be more active in extracurricular activities?

4. What is the most effective way for parents to teach their children about money?

5. How can parents teach children to be independent?

Science proposal topics

1. What can the average person do to combat global climate change? What can the government do?

2. What should be done to increase the funding for cancer research?

3. How can parents, teachers, and society at large encourage more children to pursue an education in science?

4. How can educational television shows about science receive more funding and airtime?

5. How can educators encourage more women to enter STEM fields?

Society proposal topics

1. In what ways can we reduce childhood obesity?

2. How can the government or society as a whole reduce homelessness in the United States?

3. What would be an effective program to curb illegal drug use?

4. How can we promote more compassionate behavior within US society?

5. What can the United States do to better care for the elderly?

Technology proposal topics

1. How can people reduce their reliance on technology?

2. How can parents and teachers effectively help eliminate cyberbullying?

3. How should children be taught about responsible internet use?

4. In what ways can companies and consumers keep sensitive information more secure online?

5. In what ways can we use technology to create a better learning environment?

Hopefully, one of these proposal essay topics catches your eye. If not, feel free to make up your own topic based off something you care about solving.

Did you notice that most of the topics listed above start with “How can…” and “In what way…”? Let these words guide your own topic selection if you don’t choose one of the above examples. The phrases will lead you to a great proposal essay.

If you choose a topic, write about it, and are left wondering if it’s any good, send it to one of the Kibin editors. We will review your essay and give you suggestions on how to strengthen your argument.

Good luck with your proposal!

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on June 6, 2016, but has been updated with fresh information and additional topic ideas. 

The Solution: Find someone who does know how to write a proposal paper (that would be me) and read her advice (that would be this article).

Problem solved.

Phew! That was easy, right?

So let’s get to work solving your problem. Follow me, and I’ll show you how to write a proposal paper with a purpose.

What the Heck Is a Proposal Paper?

A proposal paper is pretty much like it sounds. It proposes an idea (often a solution to a problem) and presents evidence to illustrate why and how the idea should be implemented.

Check out these example essays for an even better understanding of how to write a proposal paper:

• A Proposal on How to Save Wetlands
• A Proposal for an Alternative Punishment Method to Capital Punishment
• A Project Proposal for a for-Profit Transportation Service for Kent State University

Before you begin writing your proposal paper, you need to remember two important points.

Point #1: Know your audience

If you’re writing a proposal for business purposes, your proposal might be written for a client or for your employer. If you’re writing a proposal paper for a class, you need to check your assignment guidelines to see if your professor has already given you an audience.

If you don’t have an assigned audience, think about who would need to read your proposal in order to make it happen.

For instance, if you want to propose that your college expand parking facilities, writing your proposal to the financial aid office isn’t going to get any results.

This leads me to the second point you need to remember.

Point #2: Do your research

If you’re not sure who the audience is for your proposal, find out. Make some calls, send some emails, or do some research online.

You’ll also need to research the evidence to support your proposal.

If you’re proposing a new parking structure on campus, how much will it cost? Does the college have space for the structure? Will tuition increase if the college needs to spend money on additional parking?

Knowing your stuff means that people are more likely to believe you and will be more likely to implement your proposal. Fancy wording isn’t going to cut it. You need solid evidence to support your claims and to convince your audience.

Still with me? Great!

Now, let’s mooooove on to our discussion of the five core elements of a proposal paper.

5 Core Elements of a How to Write a Proposal Paper

I’m going to discuss five core components of a proposal paper: the introduction, discussion of the problem, the proposed solution, how to implement the solution, and the conclusion.

Depending on your proposal (and, of course, your assignment guidelines), you may need to include any number of varying elements in a proposal paper.

Your paper might also need to include other elements, such as a discussion of solutions that have been tried but have failed or a list of resources that will be used to implement your proposal.

If you’re doing any outside research (and you probably should), you’ll also need to consult your professor to see how your resources should be cited. (Common citations styles include MLA and APA.)

REMEMBER: Check your assignment guidelines or ask your professor about the exact components you’ll need to include.

And while you’re at it, check to see if you need to include headings. (Most proposal papers will include headings, such as Introduction or Proposal.)

Okay, so let’s get to the five core components and get you up to speed on how to write a proposal paper.

Introduction

Like any essay introduction, the introduction to a proposal paper serves to introduce your topic and grab the reader’s attention.

The proposal paper introduction should also illustrate the importance of the problem, convince readers that they need to care about your proposed solution, and help them realize the feasibility of your solution.

Let’s say you want to write about pets in dorms, and your audience is college administrators.

You open your essay with a discussion of how much you love animals and how important pets are to people. Your introduction then moves on to your proposed problem—students are not allowed to keep pets in their dorms.

You wrap up your introduction with your proposal to let students keep any type of animal, even a pony or a koala bear, in their rooms. Wait … what? A pony? A koala bear? Why not a cow?

This is an example of a proposal introduction that starts strong but doesn’t offer a realistic or feasible solution.

Let’s try another topic.

This time, you begin your paper with statistics of poorly attended Friday classes. You explain that Friday classes are not liked by many students and that not holding classes on Friday would benefit both the students and the college. You propose to shift these courses to other times throughout the week or move the courses online.

This proposal is much more feasible, and administrators might actually want to hear your reasons for not offering classes on Friday.

And if your proposal is implemented, think of how great it would be knowing that you’d never have to take a Friday class again!

Discussion of the problem

When writing about the problem, your goal is to convince readers that a problem exists and that readers need to care about the problem.

In other words, readers need to see the problem as real and worthy of their attention.

If you hate the color brown and your dorm has brown carpeting, think of this as a pet peeve rather than a real problem. Proposing that the college change all dorm carpeting to blue isn’t going to gain much traction.

On the other hand, if you present statistics about how often students miss Friday classes and present a survey of students regarding their grades, attendance, and engagement, administrators might take a closer look at whether they should offer Friday classes.

As you’re discussing the problem, don’t forget the importance of audience.

As you discuss the problem, don’t forget the importance of audience. You want them to care about your solution.
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I’ve already mentioned this several times, but it bears repeating—again. Keep your audience in mind.

In this case, you’re writing to college administrators. If you’re trying to convince the administration that it should eliminate Friday classes, don’t write about how you just want to go home Thursday night or that you’re too tired on Friday morning because you usually stay out all night on Thursday.

This won’t earn you any points, and your proposal won’t be taken seriously.

Proposed solution

This section will be the shortest section of your paper.

When you propose a solution, you do just that. Write a few sentences to explain your solution.

The goal of this section is not to explain in detail how or why you propose to solve the problem. The goal is to briefly identify the problem and your proposed solution.

If you’re writing about eliminating Friday classes, your solution might read something like this:

Friday classes at XYZ University are consistently poorly attended, and students report a lack of interest and engagement in these classes due to the day the courses are offered. Thus, these courses should not be offered on Friday and should be offered  Monday through Thursday or moved online.

How to implement the solution

Once you’ve proposed a solution, you need to actually have a plan to put it into place.

This section of your paper will provide the specific details of how you (or someone else) will implement the solution.

So what kinds of details should you include?

Details to convince your audience

Here, again, is your chance to convince your audience. This time, you’ll need to convince your audience that you have the qualifications to implement the solution. Or if your audience is the person or group that can implement the solution, convince them that they can, in fact, solve the problem.

Specifics of the proposal’s implementation

Explain exactly what needs to be done in order to put your proposed plan into place. Think about things like cost, time, and other resources needed.

Anticipate objections

Will anyone object to your proposal? It’s likely some people will. Therefore, in this section, anticipate their objections and let them know you’ve thought of such concerns and have already planned accordingly.

Let’s go back to the proposed plan of not offering classes on Friday.

Your proposal could encourage administrators to examine course schedules, speak with other administrators and the registrar, and highlight the fact that they are the best people to solve the problem.

Next, think about how to put the proposal in place. In this case, there would be no cost, and the administration could implement the new schedule within one or two semesters.

In the final part of this section, you might anticipate that administrators would want to keep Friday classes to best serve students. Of course, you’d argue that Friday classes are less than ideal for most college students.

We’re almost there. Stay with me. Don’t rest just yet. Our next, and final component on how to write a proposal paper is the conclusion.

Conclusion

The conclusion to a proposal essay is much like a conclusion to any essay. It should wrap up and restate your key points.

In the proposal paper, your conclusion should emphasize the importance and relevance of your proposal.

In a proposal paper about eliminating Friday course offerings, you might emphasize, again, poor attendance and lack of engagement and that students would learn better at other times during the weak.

The End?

Don’t forget that a first draft of any paper doesn’t mean the end of the writing process.

With all of the elements of your proposal paper in place, take a break and return to your paper in a few days to revise.

Not sure if your proposal paper really does offer a feasible proposal? Have a Kibin editor review your paper.

Happy writing!