We collect essays from people who care about higher education.

Go HERE to submit original essays, suggest topics, and refer us to previously published work (by you or others).

Questions are followed by author’s last names which link to their essays.

Advice

• How do you get the most out of college? Strow, Perry, Ramirez 
• How does a poor student become a good one? Halfon
• How can you write better? Toor, Elbow
• How can we communicate more effectively? Jones
• How can you become a better learner? Krebs
• What kind of schools should students consider? Henderson  
• How do you even decide to go to college or not? White
• Suggest a question.

Wisdom

• How should you organize your life? Schlesinger
• What have you learned about life? Schall, Baker, Owens, LaBossiere, Coleman
• What have you learned about people? Shasha
• What have you learned about teaching? Kirp, Johnstun, Duneier
• How does college relate to the real world? Williams
• How do you teach people to do the right thing? Kittle, Allen, Pace, Goldstein  
• What would you tell your teenage self? Halasz, Stroup, Rodney, Brighton
• What would you tell your grandchildren? Allen
• What is your mission? Adubato, Allen, Korver
• What is your passion? Hall, Haag
• How did you come to value what you do? Adubato
• What kind of person are you? Perry
• What ethical issues have you faced? (awaiting submission)
• What has gotten you to change your thoughts or feelings? (awaiting submission)
• Suggest a question.

Critical Thinking

• What should colleges teach? Schwartz/Sharpe, Allen 
• Is higher education improving or going down hill? Wolin, Goldrick-Rab, Ramaley, Schwartz 
• Is graduate school worth it? Seligman
• Are students learning the best way? Poe, Jaffee, Stavans
• Are we preparing students for the professional world? Shapiro, Schneider
• How can students and faculty improve their interaction? Toth
• Is higher education the best thing for everyone? Yaffe
• Are too many students going to college? Williams
• Is imitation a form of flattery – or stealing? Cohen
• Do we need to pay for knowledge? Rubin 
• How much do students know? Dolby
• How will open online courses affect the future of education? Carey, O’Donnell
• Is competition good? Potter
• Where is higher education headed? Martin, Spar, Williams
• Are we evaluating colleges the right way? Hurtado, Hauptman  
• Is the admissions process a good one? Schwartz, White 
• How should higher education be funded? Urgo  
• What do academics do wrong? Lang, Jenkins, Goldstein 
• Do we have a moral obligation to care about our students’ futures? Cassuto
• Are our students the customers, the product, or something else? Schlesinger 
• Who gets to be on top? Haag, Espenshade, Wilson
  
• Are colleges doing research the right way? Schell
• How should higher education be funded? Loss
• Is our college here for the students or are the students here for us? (awaiting submission)
• Should our college game the U. S. News rankings? (awaiting submission)
• How is our reputation different from reality? (awaiting submission)
• Should “caveat emptor” be the operative philosophy when we  market to students, or should we hold ourselves to a higher standard than, say, a used car dealer? Allen
• Do we have a fiduciary responsibility to put our student’s best financial interests ahead of our own? (awaiting submission)
• What, if anything, should a diploma from our college mean other than having passed a minimum number of courses?  (awaiting submission)
• Suggest a question.

College Admissions Essays

Just for fun, we are collecting both wacky and wonderful college admissions essay topics and answers HERE.