essay for higher education

Higher Education - List of Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Higher education refers to the final stage of formal learning following secondary education, often at colleges, universities, and institutes of technology. Essays on higher education might explore the various aspects of modern higher education systems, like the role and value of higher education in societal development, the challenges facing higher education institutions, or the evolving nature of higher education in response to technological advancements and changing societal needs. They might also delve into discussions surrounding access to higher education, the cost of higher education, or the debate on the practical versus theoretical focus in higher education curricula. We’ve gathered an extensive assortment of free essay samples on the topic of Higher Education you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Should Higher Education be Free?

College education is very important for many people. However, a lot of us cannot afford it because it is expensive. Providing free college education would be easier for students because they would not have to worry about the cost of classes or books, allowing them to focus more on their studies. Qualified students should be given a free college education because of its exorbitant cost, which, in turn, will help them find a career that they enjoy. Maria, a student […]

Plagiarism Issues for Higher Education

According to Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) ‘There is much difference between imitating a man and counterfeiting him.’ The word plagiarism means to present someone else’s work or ideas as your, with or without their consent. Plagiarism could be done in multiple forms. Some of these include verbatim (word for word). In this technique, you eliminate quotation mark and references of the sources from a quotation to show your independent work however you have drawn someone else’s idea. Another form of plagiarism […]

How Coming to America Changed my Life

Moving from Nigeria to the United States permanently feels great, but at the same time, it is sad leaving some loved ones and family behind. Most people have several events or things that have changed their life or their way of thinking. One of the major changes that occurred in my life was when I moved from Africa to America. This change has entirely affected my personality positively. Why? Many foreigners want to come to America mostly in search of […]

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Making Higher Education Affordable

Education is crucial to make the future generation surpass the ongoing society. Although, education is a must, schools come with a price. Especially, colleges are relatively higher in fees. The United States Senator Bernie Sanders discusses what he believes America actually needs to become great: High-quality higher education delivered to citizens for free (Sanders, 2017). College education should not be free as it increases the opportunity for higher quality schools, their variety and amount of institutions. College education should not […]

Affirmative Action does it Hinder or Help Students in Higher Education

Under the recent Trump Administration, affirmative action has reversed the Obama-era policy that advised institutions to diminish race in one of the many factors into their admissions practices and policies. While many constituents are divided on affirmative action, the narrative of this policy has been framed through the media in a way that has caused a divide within higher education. As a country, the United States empathizes the importance of equality and equity among U.S. citizens including individual's in higher […]

Personal Narrative about my Education

It was not until college when I realized I was considered or called an English language learner (ELL) back in elementary school. When I was young I always knew I was bilingual but never heard the negative term of ELL or students with English as a second language (ESL) until middle school. My first language was Spanish, and English did not get introduced into my life until I was 3 years old. As soon as I heard my older brother […]

About some Problems in our Higher Education System

In Brent Staples’ article “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s” he highlights how America’s higher education system has been an image of depreciation since the arrival of private institutes. With growing competition posed by private institutes, and increasing demands of students for better grades, colleges have been lowering their standards by showing clemency in the grading process. The main focal point of the article is the management of colleges and universities. This persuasive piece of writing by Staples uncovers […]

Does Higher Education Still Prepare People for Jobs?

Students should be responsible for a part of their tuition, while the government should also subsidized each student entering college. If college fees were cut in half by the government and not by loans that tax students six months after graduating, students would have the opportunity to go back to school and get their masters. According to How the Government Could Control College Costs, “Recent graduates have been unable to command increased salaries to match these rising costs.” This is […]

What Kind of Student are you

During my work at the university, I have formed images of the main types of students, I present them to your attention. Erudite. This is the rarest type, but the most interesting. Such a student has above-average intelligence, learning is easy for him, while he likes to learn, and he is not lazy to do it. He can ask tricky questions that mature in his head thanks to an inquiring mind. It is because of the presence of such a […]

Internationalization of Higher Education Exchange Programs and Studying Abroad

Internationalization of higher education has been happening for a long time. The idea of bringing over students from other countries and sending students from the United States to other areas of the world has lots of potential benefits for universities. Breaking down stereotypes and obstacles of cultural difference; contributing to the transfer of knowledge and expertise; familiarizing the outside world with the variety of opinions in the United States, as well as familiarizing Americans to the different views held outside […]

Reality Vs. Real Highschool

Television has skewed society's image of all the ordinary life experiences, from college to work. The most distorted image we have is of high school. Everywhere one looks, there is a new movie out, and surprise, it's a teen drama about high school. The problem is that rarely do any of these details happen in real life. Being a high schooler with two and a quarter years of experience, I thought I could shed some light on the subject and […]

The Covid-19 Outbreak: Issues for Students that Come with doing Online School

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 outbreak, also known as COVID-19, has caused great distress in society as a whole but high schoolers are a group that has been impacted more now than ever. These students haven’t been able to participate in activities, sports, and events causing their social needs to be left unfulfilled. Not only is coronavirus affecting high school students throughout school but also throughout their daily lives. Having to social distance has caused the well-being of […]

How to Become a Chef after Growing up Nowadays

It often happens that a cook has finished courses, received a diploma, but on the first working day he cannot make even an elementary dish. After all, it's one thing - a measured pace and a clear sequence of actions in educational conditions, and quite another thing - the cuisine of a popular restaurant during peak hours. There are dozens of dishes at work at the same time, there are screams, haste, movement and, as it often seems to beginners, […]

Improving America’s Education System Quality

There is a quote by Jeff Daniels in the “Newsroom” that still worries me about our country, while it is a tv show, it is one that is meant to represent real life and all the facts that he said are correct, to put this in context, a young woman in her mid-twenties asked the question “What makes America the greatest country in the world?” This is how Jeff Daniels’ character responded to that. “We are not the greatest country […]

Chevening Winning Essay

I believe that trust, teamwork, respect and welcoming diversity are the basic elements to create a strong relationship among people. When I Grow Up Event for kids had launched by JCI Damascus, which specialized to display a huge number of occupations, professions and handcrafts in real way to enable children to practice it, so that will facilitate their career plan for the future. The manager of event signed the official agreement with one charity organization to bring 300 boys and […]

My Educational Autobiography: Journey of Resilience and Transformation

Introduction When I was growing up, I always dreamed of becoming a Professional Model. I would have to say it started around the age of 5. My parents have told me the variety of stories pertaining myself and modeling. My mom told me how I would always play dress up the mirror with her wigs and heels. Funny how she mentioned that I had the ability to walk very good in her heels. I don’t quite remember much about my […]

How Immigrant Background Can Help to Adjust and Overcome Shyness

Culture is like a parasol to me, which includes social behaviors and norms found in civilized societies, as well as the expectations, philosophies, humanities, regulations, abilities, and customs of individuals in certain cultures. Human beings demand experience through the process of learning, in which our civilization demonstrates diversity through different cultures. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that background is 'the things that have made you into the person you are, esp. family, experience, and education.' From my point of view, an […]

Importance of Financial Education in High School

"Over 50% of Americans have credit cards and the latest stats show that credit card debt stands at $7,050 per average household, with an average of 17%," (Jez Davidson, 2016). Many people in this nation lack proper financial education. As a result, this negatively impacts unemployment rates, poverty, and GDP. Financial education is an essential skill that must be taught, as it can't be learned otherwise. It is used in everyday life and is a necessary skill for financial independence. […]

Sweeping a Problem is Bound to Explode: Leon Botstein’s Article Related to High School

Life is constantly changing, making many beliefs appear to both the believers and non-believers. Leon Botstein, in his article "Let Teenagers Try Adulthood", shares the perspective of a believer. His article discusses graduating school at the age of sixteen, school shootings, and what it feels like to be an outsider in an environment full of insiders. Botstein is partially correct about graduating high school at the age of sixteen; however, his reasoning is insufficient. Botstein suggests that it would be […]

Education System and Educational Technologies

The immense growth of technology over the past couple of decades has changed the way we live life in every aspect. Because of the growth in technology it wasn’t long before technology reached new levels in the education system. The education system has been consistent for many years however that has recently changed with a new group of technology entrepreneurs who introduced a new way of teaching… These entrepreneurs had a vision in which students had a broader option of […]

The Main Cause of our Lacking Education System is Industrial Age Values

Once upon a time, enthusiasts designed a formal education system to meet the money-based demands of the Industrial Revolution. Fast forward to today, it seems obvious that the now established education system is unable to meet the needs of our ever changing society. We send our children to school to prepare them for the real world which is changing very, very fast but our schools have not changed much for hundreds of years. In fact, leaders from around the world […]

Year Round School is a Mistake

All through time training has been viewed as a cycle that now and again should be improved. The schooling quality in the U.S. has declined throughout the long term and individuals have been searching for an approach to make enhancements. A later proposition has been to go from a customary nine-month timetable to a entire year program. Allies of year-round school guarantee it gives the understudy superior instruction. In any case, the possibility of a year-round school isn't useful to […]

Access to Tools that Expanding Educational Background

Education is the most important and fundamental aspect of a person’s life. Education is also forever changing and evolving to better suit the needs of those in school and prepare them for life, however that looks during that time period. One thing that will almost always stay the same is that schooling requires money; whether that be from the families, state, or someone that wants to help that is able. Many people throughout the years have felt it was their […]

Hampton University’s Distinguished Alumni: a Legacy of Excellence and Influence

Hampton University, nestled in Hampton, Virginia, is not just a cornerstone of higher education for African American students; it's a cradle of potential that has nurtured some of the most influential minds in American history and culture. Over the years, this prestigious institution has been home to individuals who have gone on to make significant contributions across a myriad of fields, from science and politics to the arts and social activism. Their stories are not merely a testament to the […]

The Fight against Segregation in Higher Education

The middle part of the 20th century marked a significant epoch in the United States concerning civil liberties, particularly in the realm of higher education segregation, which emerged as a focal point for the quest for parity. African American scholars encountered substantial inequalities in their access to quality learning opportunities, a consequence of entrenched systemic racism exacerbated by the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896, which upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine. This exposition delves into the milieu of […]

The Unsung Heroes of Higher Education: Benefits of Local Community Colleges

When the conversation turns to higher education, the spotlight often shines on four-year universities and prestigious institutions. Yet, lurking in the shadows of these academic giants are the local community colleges, unsung heroes offering a plethora of benefits to those who decide to walk through their doors. These institutions are not just stepping stones or fallback options; they are powerhouses of opportunity, affordability, and flexibility, tailored to meet the needs of a diverse student population. One of the most lauded […]

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Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 53 stellar college essay topics to inspire you.

College Essays

Most colleges and universities in the United States require applicants to submit at least one essay as part of their application. But trying to figure out what college essay topics you should choose is a tricky process. There are so many potential things you could write about!

In this guide, we go over the essential qualities that make for a great college essay topic and give you 50+ college essay topics you can use for your own statement . In addition, we provide you with helpful tips for turning your college essay topic into a stellar college essay.

What Qualities Make for a Good College Essay Topic?

Regardless of what you write about in your personal statement for college , there are key features that will always make for a stand-out college essay topic.

#1: It’s Specific

First off, good college essay topics are extremely specific : you should know all the pertinent facts that have to do with the topic and be able to see how the entire essay comes together.

Specificity is essential because it’ll not only make your essay stand out from other statements, but it'll also recreate the experience for admissions officers through its realism, detail, and raw power. You want to tell a story after all, and specificity is the way to do so. Nobody wants to read a vague, bland, or boring story — not even admissions officers!

For example, an OK topic would be your experience volunteering at a cat shelter over the summer. But a better, more specific college essay topic would be how you deeply connected with an elderly cat there named Marty, and how your bond with him made you realize that you want to work with animals in the future.

Remember that specificity in your topic is what will make your essay unique and memorable . It truly is the key to making a strong statement (pun intended)!

#2: It Shows Who You Are

In addition to being specific, good college essay topics reveal to admissions officers who you are: your passions and interests, what is important to you, your best (or possibly even worst) qualities, what drives you, and so on.

The personal statement is critical because it gives schools more insight into who you are as a person and not just who you are as a student in terms of grades and classes.

By coming up with a real, honest topic, you’ll leave an unforgettable mark on admissions officers.

#3: It’s Meaningful to You

The very best college essay topics are those that hold deep meaning to their writers and have truly influenced them in some significant way.

For instance, maybe you plan to write about the first time you played Skyrim to explain how this video game revealed to you the potentially limitless worlds you could create, thereby furthering your interest in game design.

Even if the topic seems trivial, it’s OK to use it — just as long as you can effectively go into detail about why this experience or idea had such an impact on you .

Don’t give in to the temptation to choose a topic that sounds impressive but doesn’t actually hold any deep meaning for you. Admissions officers will see right through this!

Similarly, don’t try to exaggerate some event or experience from your life if it’s not all that important to you or didn’t have a substantial influence on your sense of self.

#4: It’s Unique

College essay topics that are unique are also typically the most memorable, and if there’s anything you want to be during the college application process, it’s that! Admissions officers have to sift through thousands of applications, and the essay is one of the only parts that allows them to really get a sense of who you are and what you value in life.

If your essay is trite or boring, it won’t leave much of an impression , and your application will likely get immediately tossed to the side with little chance of seeing admission.

But if your essay topic is very original and different, you’re more likely to earn that coveted second glance at your application.

What does being unique mean exactly, though? Many students assume that they must choose an extremely rare or crazy experience to talk about in their essays —but that's not necessarily what I mean by "unique." Good college essay topics can be unusual and different, yes, but they can also be unique takes on more mundane or common activities and experiences .

For instance, say you want to write an essay about the first time you went snowboarding. Instead of just describing the details of the experience and how you felt during it, you could juxtapose your emotions with a creative and humorous perspective from the snowboard itself. Or you could compare your first attempt at snowboarding with your most recent experience in a snowboarding competition. The possibilities are endless!

#5: It Clearly Answers the Question

Finally, good college essay topics will clearly and fully answer the question(s) in the prompt.

You might fail to directly answer a prompt by misinterpreting what it’s asking you to do, or by answering only part of it (e.g., answering just one out of three questions).

Therefore, make sure you take the time to come up with an essay topic that is in direct response to every question in the prompt .

Take this Coalition Application prompt as an example:

What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What's the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

For this prompt, you’d need to answer all three questions (though it’s totally fine to focus more on one or two of them) to write a compelling and appropriate essay.

This is why we recommend reading and rereading the essay prompt ; you should know exactly what it’s asking you to do, well before you start brainstorming possible college application essay topics.

53 College Essay Topics to Get Your Brain Moving

In this section, we give you a list of 53 examples of college essay topics. Use these as jumping-off points to help you get started on your college essay and to ensure that you’re on track to coming up with a relevant and effective topic.

All college application essay topics below are categorized by essay prompt type. We’ve identified six general types of college essay prompts:

Why This College?

Change and personal growth, passions, interests, and goals, overcoming a challenge, diversity and community, solving a problem.

Note that these prompt types could overlap with one another, so you’re not necessarily limited to just one college essay topic in a single personal statement.

• How a particular major or program will help you achieve your academic or professional goals
• A memorable and positive interaction you had with a professor or student at the school
• Something good that happened to you while visiting the campus or while on a campus tour
• A certain class you want to take or a certain professor you’re excited to work with
• Some piece of on-campus equipment or facility that you’re looking forward to using
• Your plans to start a club at the school, possibly to raise awareness of a major issue
• A study abroad or other unique program that you can’t wait to participate in
• How and where you plan to volunteer in the community around the school
• An incredible teacher you studied under and the positive impact they had on you
• How you went from really liking something, such as a particular movie star or TV show, to not liking it at all (or vice versa)
• How yours or someone else’s (change in) socioeconomic status made you more aware of poverty
• A time someone said something to you that made you realize you were wrong
• How your opinion on a controversial topic, such as gay marriage or DACA, has shifted over time
• A documentary that made you aware of a particular social, economic, or political issue going on in the country or world
• Advice you would give to your younger self about friendship, motivation, school, etc.
• The steps you took in order to kick a bad or self-sabotaging habit
• A juxtaposition of the first and most recent time you did something, such as dance onstage
• A book you read that you credit with sparking your love of literature and/or writing
• A school assignment or project that introduced you to your chosen major
• A glimpse of your everyday routine and how your biggest hobby or interest fits into it
• The career and (positive) impact you envision yourself having as a college graduate
• A teacher or mentor who encouraged you to pursue a specific interest you had
• How moving around a lot helped you develop a love of international exchange or learning languages
• A special skill or talent you’ve had since you were young and that relates to your chosen major in some way, such as designing buildings with LEGO bricks
• Where you see yourself in 10 or 20 years
• Your biggest accomplishment so far relating to your passion (e.g., winning a gold medal for your invention at a national science competition)
• A time you lost a game or competition that was really important to you
• How you dealt with the loss or death of someone close to you
• A time you did poorly in a class that you expected to do well in
• How moving to a new school impacted your self-esteem and social life
• A chronic illness you battled or are still battling
• Your healing process after having your heart broken for the first time
• A time you caved under peer pressure and the steps you took so that it won't happen again
• How you almost gave up on learning a foreign language but stuck with it
• Why you decided to become a vegetarian or vegan, and how you navigate living with a meat-eating family
• What you did to overcome a particular anxiety or phobia you had (e.g., stage fright)
• A history of a failed experiment you did over and over, and how you finally found a way to make it work successfully
• Someone within your community whom you aspire to emulate
• A family tradition you used to be embarrassed about but are now proud of
• Your experience with learning English upon moving to the United States
• A close friend in the LGBTQ+ community who supported you when you came out
• A time you were discriminated against, how you reacted, and what you would do differently if faced with the same situation again
• How you navigate your identity as a multiracial, multiethnic, and/or multilingual person
• A project or volunteer effort you led to help or improve your community
• A particular celebrity or role model who inspired you to come out as LGBTQ+
• Your biggest challenge (and how you plan to tackle it) as a female in a male-dominated field
• How you used to discriminate against your own community, and what made you change your mind and eventually take pride in who you are and/or where you come from
• A program you implemented at your school in response to a known problem, such as a lack of recycling cans in the cafeteria
• A time you stepped in to mediate an argument or fight between two people
• An app or other tool you developed to make people’s lives easier in some way
• A time you proposed a solution that worked to an ongoing problem at school, an internship, or a part-time job
• The steps you took to identify and fix an error in coding for a website or program
• An important social or political issue that you would fix if you had the means

How to Build a College Essay in 6 Easy Steps

Once you’ve decided on a college essay topic you want to use, it’s time to buckle down and start fleshing out your essay. These six steps will help you transform a simple college essay topic into a full-fledged personal statement.

Step 1: Write Down All the Details

Once you’ve chosen a general topic to write about, get out a piece of paper and get to work on creating a list of all the key details you could include in your essay . These could be things such as the following:

• Emotions you felt at the time
• Names, places, and/or numbers
• Dialogue, or what you or someone else said
• A specific anecdote, example, or experience
• Descriptions of how things looked, felt, or seemed

If you can only come up with a few details, then it’s probably best to revisit the list of college essay topics above and choose a different one that you can write more extensively on.

Good college essay topics are typically those that:

• You remember well (so nothing that happened when you were really young)
• You're excited to write about
• You're not embarrassed or uncomfortable to share with others
• You believe will make you positively stand out from other applicants

Step 2: Figure Out Your Focus and Approach

Once you have all your major details laid out, start to figure out how you could arrange them in a way that makes sense and will be most effective.

It’s important here to really narrow your focus: you don’t need to (and shouldn’t!) discuss every single aspect of your trip to visit family in Indonesia when you were 16. Rather, zero in on a particular anecdote or experience and explain why and how it impacted you.

Alternatively, you could write about multiple experiences while weaving them together with a clear, meaningful theme or concept , such as how your math teacher helped you overcome your struggle with geometry over the course of an entire school year. In this case, you could mention a few specific times she tutored you and most strongly supported you in your studies.

There’s no one right way to approach your college essay, so play around to see what approaches might work well for the topic you’ve chosen.

If you’re really unsure about how to approach your essay, think about what part of your topic was or is most meaningful and memorable to you, and go from there.

Step 3: Structure Your Narrative

• Beginning: Don’t just spout off a ton of background information here—you want to hook your reader, so try to start in the middle of the action , such as with a meaningful conversation you had or a strong emotion you felt. It could also be a single anecdote if you plan to center your essay around a specific theme or idea.
• Middle: Here’s where you start to flesh out what you’ve established in the opening. Provide more details about the experience (if a single anecdote) or delve into the various times your theme or idea became most important to you. Use imagery and sensory details to put the reader in your shoes.
• End: It’s time to bring it all together. Finish describing the anecdote or theme your essay centers around and explain how it relates to you now , what you’ve learned or gained from it, and how it has influenced your goals.

Step 4: Write a Rough Draft

By now you should have all your major details and an outline for your essay written down; these two things will make it easy for you to convert your notes into a rough draft.

At this stage of the writing process, don’t worry too much about vocabulary or grammar and just focus on getting out all your ideas so that they form the general shape of an essay . It’s OK if you’re a little over the essay's word limit — as you edit, you’ll most likely make some cuts to irrelevant and ineffective parts anyway.

If at any point you get stuck and have no idea what to write, revisit steps 1-3 to see whether there are any important details or ideas you might be omitting or not elaborating on enough to get your overall point across to admissions officers.

Step 5: Edit, Revise, and Proofread

• Sections that are too wordy and don’t say anything important
• Irrelevant details that don’t enhance your essay or the point you're trying to make
• Parts that seem to drag or that feel incredibly boring or redundant
• Areas that are vague and unclear and would benefit from more detail
• Phrases or sections that are awkwardly placed and should be moved around
• Areas that feel unconvincing, inauthentic, or exaggerated

Start paying closer attention to your word choice/vocabulary and grammar at this time, too. It’s perfectly normal to edit and revise your college essay several times before asking for feedback, so keep working with it until you feel it’s pretty close to its final iteration.

This step will likely take the longest amount of time — at least several weeks, if not months — so really put effort into fixing up your essay. Once you’re satisfied, do a final proofread to ensure that it’s technically correct.

Step 6: Get Feedback and Tweak as Needed

After you’ve overhauled your rough draft and made it into a near-final draft, give your essay to somebody you trust , such as a teacher or parent, and have them look it over for technical errors and offer you feedback on its content and overall structure.

Use this feedback to make any last-minute changes or edits. If necessary, repeat steps 5 and 6. You want to be extra sure that your essay is perfect before you submit it to colleges!

Recap: From College Essay Topics to Great College Essays

Many different kinds of college application essay topics can get you into a great college. But this doesn’t make it any easier to choose the best topic for you .

In general, the best college essay topics have the following qualities :

• They’re specific
• They show who you are
• They’re meaningful to you
• They’re unique
• They clearly answer the question

If you ever need help coming up with an idea of what to write for your essay, just refer to the list of 53 examples of college essay topics above to get your brain juices flowing.

Once you’ve got an essay topic picked out, follow these six steps for turning your topic into an unforgettable personal statement :

• Write down all the details
• Figure out your focus and approach
• Structure your narrative
• Write a rough draft
• Edit, revise, and proofread
• Get feedback and tweak as needed

And with that, I wish you the best of luck on your college essays!

What’s Next?

Writing a college essay is no simple task. Get expert college essay tips with our guides on how to come up with great college essay ideas and how to write a college essay, step by step .

You can also check out this huge list of college essay prompts  to get a feel for what types of questions you'll be expected to answer on your applications.

Want to see examples of college essays that absolutely rocked? You're in luck because we've got a collection of 100+ real college essay examples right here on our blog!

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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How to Write the George Mason University Essays 2023-2024

A  relatively young university, George Mason University was established in 1957 as a branch of the University of Virginia, before becoming an independent school in 1972. Today, the Fairfax County, Virginia-based institution has gained recognition as a top research university.

Keep reading to learn all about the George Mason essays and how to tackle them.

George Mason University Supplemental Essay Prompts

All applicants.

Prompt: What is your motivation for pursuing higher education? Why do you believe George Mason University is the right institution for you? (Required for those applying test-optional) (400 words)

Honors Applicants

Prompt: To complete your application to the Honors College, please choose and respond to one (1) of the prompts above in no more than 500 words.

Option 1:  George Mason University is Virginia’s largest public research university. As a Tier-1 research institution, every day, our faculty, staff, and students work to address unanswered questions, unresolved challenges, and problems that impact a wide variety of populations. In the Honors College, you’ll have opportunities to do this sort of work — and maybe even answer questions and solve problems that matter to you. Tell us about one question, challenge, or problem that you’d like to work to better understand or address during your time at Mason. Introduce this issue, and then explain why it matters to you and why it might matter to others. Feel free to be creative- research and inquiry can exist in unlikely places.

Option 2:  The art we see, the stories we read, and the words we hear have the power to move us and to change us. Tell us about a time that you’ve been moved to act by something you read, a speech you heard, or a work of art that you experienced. What was it, and how did it impact you? What did you do — or what will you do — in response?

What is your motivation for pursuing higher education? Why do you believe George Mason University is the right institution for you? (Required for those applying test-optional) (400 words)

While this essay is required for students who are applying test-optional, we recommend that you complete it even if you do submit standardized test scores.

This is a classic “Why Us” prompt, asking you to explain why you’re interested in attending George Mason over other colleges. Remember, however, that it’s not just about the college and the qualities that appeal to you about it — it’s also about you : your personal and professional goals, what you hope to get out of your education, and how George Mason will support you in achieving these goals.

The “Why this college” essay may seem relatively straightforward on the surface, but it requires a certain amount of nuance. It also demands research on your part, in order for you to go beyond surface-level details like George Mason’s proximity to Washington, DC and the opportunities the location provides. It must also go beyond details you can find from a cursory look on the website.

Instead, use specific details, taking a factual approach — which doesn’t mean it should be devoid of feeling — when describing your goals and how George Mason will enhance your journey.

For example, perhaps you plan to pursue conservation as a profession. Because George Mason is home to the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, the only program of its kind in the country, this is an opportunity to describe why this program appeals to you and how your background complements it. 

You might offer anecdotes about your experience working with wildlife — perhaps you volunteered at a zoo in high school or led a fundraiser to support preserving endangered species. Then, draw a connection between your experiences and George Mason’s program, explaining why this is an ideal place to nurture your goals, since you’ll have the opportunity to receive hands-on training from leading Smithsonian scientists toward the goal of supporting a biodiverse planet.

Dig deep, finding specific names of prospective mentors and research or work they’ve done that you admire. Remember to keep connecting your experiences to what George Mason can offer. This essay is about more than why George Mason is the right school for you — it’s also about you .

To complete your application to the Honors College, please choose and respond to one (1) of the prompts above in no more than 500 words.

The selective Honors College at George Mason is a prestigious school designed to promote inquiry and critical thinking. If you are applying to the Honors College, you will be asked to respond to one of the following additional prompts, along with writing the essay above.

Honors Applicants, Option 1

George mason university is virginia’s largest public research university. as a tier-1 research institution, every day, our faculty, staff, and students work to address unanswered questions, unresolved challenges, and problems that impact a wide variety of populations. in the honors college, you’ll have opportunities to do this sort of work — and maybe even answer questions and solve problems that matter to you. tell us about one question, challenge, or problem that you’d like to work to better understand or address during your time at mason. introduce this issue, and then explain why it matters to you and why it might matter to others. feel free to be creative- research and inquiry can exist in unlikely places..

Colleges seek students who will be a credit to their institutions. In other words, they want their graduates to make them look good. This prompt is a version of the archetypal “impact on community” prompt, which asks you to describe how you plan to make a difference to a variety of communities and/or the efforts you’re currently undertaking.

Inquiry is at the heart of the Honors College at George Mason. The school seeks out students who are curious and want to solve problems. This prompt requires real thought and asks that you grapple with the issues that are most important to you. Avoid cliches here — of course you want to solve world hunger and achieve peace in the Middle East. Instead, be specific in pinpointing an issue that really means something to you.

For example, perhaps you’re passionate about children and young adults who attend school while struggling with homelessness. Discuss why this issue is important to you — maybe you volunteered with underserved communities or even have acquaintances struggling with this problem — and why you want to study it further. 

Bear in mind that you don’t have to solve the problem in or with your essay. The adcom doesn’t expect you to have the answers. They want to gain insight into your thought process and how you grapple with particularly challenging scenarios. They also want to see evidence of your own curiosity and desire to work through complex issues.

Discuss some approaches you would take in order to further investigate the problem — the resources you would use, the research you would pursue, and so on.

Again, this is not about answers — it’s about inquiry and curiosity. It’s also about engaging with complex scenarios and the world around you.

Honors Applicants, Option 2

The art we see, the stories we read, and the words we hear have the power to move us and to change us. tell us about a time that you’ve been moved to act by something you read, a speech you heard, or a work of art that you experienced. what was it, and how did it impact you what did you do — or what will you do — in response.

This is another spin on the “impact on community” prompt, one that also asks you to demonstrate your interests and reveal your sources of inspiration. 

One danger with this prompt is choosing something that’s cliche. George Mason will almost certainly receive numerous Black Lives Matter-inspired responses, and while the movement is, of course, important, and might have particular importance to you, you want your essay to be unique. Moreover, the prompt asks you to choose a particular work, something more specific, that has an enormous impact on you.

Think outside the box. This doesn’t have to be a weighty book like Caste , which has obvious implications that might compel you to act. Perhaps, for instance, you saw an episode of Law & Order: SVU about child trafficking, and it inspired you to research and get involved with efforts to combat it. 

Spend less time describing the piece and more time explaining the impact it has on you. A lengthy description of the item will take up too much space, and you only have 500 words. Plus, the goal of the essay is not to give a summary of something that inspires you but to demonstrate how and why you’re inspired by it and how it compels you to act. 

Your essay will most likely take a narrative form and should include plenty of anecdotes to engage the reader and bring authenticity to the story. You should show how you feel, why you feel that way, and what your reaction is, without, of course, telling your reader those things bluntly.

Where to Get Your George Mason Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your George Mason essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Importance of Higher Education

Today, education is much more than books and degrees. Today, education means opening your mind to a whole new world, the world in which there are no geographical barriers to knowledge. Today, education means having an acceptance and respect for the entire human community, around you. To me, education is much more than a good degree, for the purpose of acquiring a highly paid job. I feel that education in today’s times is a tool with which we can transform our society, and as such, education opens our minds to acceptance of new societies and newer cultures. I believe that education is the perfect means for the social development of any society. For any culture to thrive and flourish, the education system must be sound. An excellent example of nations flourishing at a rapid pace due to education is the high growth rate of countries like India and China. India as a country has taken just fifteen years to be recognized as a global force. The fast-developing economy of India has been boosted simply by the efforts of one single generation of educated individuals who have placed India firmly on the world map for years to come. And this has been possible only by the tools of education.

Education creates awareness in the minds of individuals, a new sense of responsibility, openness to change and progress, all of which are important factors in the development of a nation. Each educated person makes a great difference to the country as a whole.

Education positively impacts the health of citizens. Higher education enables people to think critically and evaluate the pros and cons before makingmaking crucial decisions about important issue in life, whether it be health, fitness, careers, or even the choice of food to be consumed, daily.

Education is indeed a powerful means to remove the prejudices from our mind relating to gender, class, caste or race. An educated person will generally respect human kind in all its forms.

Education enables us to think deeply about primary concerns in life, especially pollution. Protection of the earth and its environment has never been at such a focus ever in the history of humanity. As educated people, we know and realize our responsibilities in protecting the earth and its atmosphere. Higher educational thinking also fosters a desire for improvement in the quality of life of individuals. It has been proven by studies that people who are highly educated have better access to health, from increased awareness of dietary practices and resultantly better and healthier lifestyle. In nations where education activities are on the rise, the youth are more mature and level headed. This improves the entire scenario of the nation as a whole as there is reduced criminal activity.

In this age and era of globalization, education to me is as important as consuming food. Besides providing monetary freedom, the benefits of education are numerous, not only to an individual but to the entire society as a whole, which is ultimately the most influencing factor in the success of any nation, small or big.

Education is not the window, but the gateway to the new global community, which is devoid.

By providing greater stability, education impacts the confidence levels of persons in an extremely positive way, thereby paving the way for greater success stories in the world, now and forever.

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — College Education — Benefits of Higher Education

Benefits of Higher Education

• Categories: College Education

About this sample

Words: 372 |

Published: Jan 29, 2024

Words: 372 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

Table of contents

Personal growth, improved career prospects, fostering a well-rounded society, counterargument: addressing criticisms against higher education.

• Baum, S., & Ma, J. (2016). Trends in College Pricing 2016. The College Board.
• Crawford, E. (2015). "The Association of American Colleges and Universities: Measuring the Value of Education Beyond the Salary Bump." Lumina Foundation.
• Harvard University. (2014). "Why Choose Harvard Extension School?" Harvard University Extension School.

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Guest Essay

Higher Education Needs More Socrates and Plato

By Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Harun Küçük

Dr. Emanuel and Dr. Küçük are on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where Dr. Emanuel is a professor and the vice provost for global initiatives and Dr. Küçük is an associate professor of the history and sociology of science.

The right attacks colleges and universities as leftist and woke. Progressives castigate them as perpetuating patriarchy and white privilege. The burdens of these culture war assaults are compounded by parents worried that the exorbitant costs of higher education aren’t worth it.

No wonder Americans’ faith in universities is at a low. Only 36 percent of Americans have confidence in higher education, according to a survey by Gallup last year, a significant drop from eight years ago. And this was before colleges and universities across the country were swept up in a wave of protests and counter-protests over the war in Gaza.

But the problems facing American higher education are not just the protests and culture war attacks on diversity, course content, speech and speakers. The problem is that higher education is fundamentally misunderstood. In response, colleges and universities must reassert the liberal arts ideals that have made them great but that have been slipping away.

By liberal arts, we mean a broad-based education that aspires to send out into society an educated citizenry prepared to make its way responsibly in an ever-more complex and divided world. We worry that at many schools, students can fulfill all or most of their general education requirements and take any number of electives without having had a single meaningful discussion that is relevant to one’s political life as a citizen.

Over the past century, what made American higher education the best in the world is not its superiority in career training, but educating students for democratic citizenship, cultivating critical thinking and contributing to the personal growth of its students through self-creation. To revive American higher education, we need to reinvigorate these roots.

In Europe and many countries elsewhere, colleges and universities have undergraduates specialize from Day 1, focusing on developing area-specific skills and knowledge. College students are trained to become doctors, lawyers or experts in international relations, English literature or computer science.

In the United States, European-style specialization for medical, legal, business or public policy careers is the purpose of post-collegiate professional schools. Traditionally, the American college has been about imparting a liberal arts education, emphasizing reasoning and problem solving. Those enduring skills are the critical ingredients for flourishing companies and countries.

Historically, students arriving on American college campuses spent a majority of their first two years taking classes outside their projected majors. This exposed them to a common curriculum that had them engage with thoughtful writings of the past to develop the skills and capacity to form sound, independent judgments.

Over the past half century, American colleges and universities have moved away from this ideal , becoming less confident in their ability to educate students for democratic citizenship. This has led to a decline in their commitment to the liberal arts, a trend underscored in the results last year of a survey of chief academic officers at American colleges and universities by Inside Higher Ed. Nearly two-thirds agreed that liberal arts education was in decline, and well over half felt that politicians, college presidents and university boards were increasingly unsympathetic to the liberal arts.

Today, there is almost no emphasis on shared courses among majors that explore and debate big questions about the meaning of equality, justice, patriotism, personal obligations, civic responsibility and the purpose of a human life. Majors that once required only eight or 10 courses now require 14 or more, and students are increasingly double majoring — all of which crowds out a liberal arts education. Ambitious students eager to land a prestigious consulting, finance or tech job will find it too easy to brush aside courses in the arts, humanities and social and natural sciences — the core of a liberal education.

The devaluing of the first two years of a shared liberal arts education has shortchanged our students and our nation. Educating young adults to be citizens is why the first two years of college still matter.

To that end, the so-called Great Books have long been the preferred way to foster citizenship. This approach is not, contrary to critics on the left and right, about sanctifying specific texts for veneration or a mechanism for heritage transmission.

Books by Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman as well as Wollstonecraft, Austen, Woolf, Baldwin, Hurston and Orwell are worthy of introductory collegiate courses for students of all majors. These writers address the fundamental questions of human life. They explore the ideas of self-determination, friendship, virtue, equality, democracy and religious toleration and race that we have all been shaped by.

As students address those big questions, the Great Books authors provide a road map as they challenge and criticize one another and the conventional wisdom of the past. The Socrates of Plato’s dialogues is the exemplar — asking about beliefs and then subjecting them to respectful but critical analysis and skepticism.

These books are best studied in small seminar discussions, which model and inculcate in students democratic behavior. This discourse is an antidote to the grandstanding in today’s media and social media.

The teacher is less an expert in specific writers and more a role model for intellectual curiosity, asking probing questions, offering critical analyses and seeking deeper understanding. In an idealized Socratic fashion, these discussions require listening at length and speaking briefly and, most important, being willing to go where the argument leads.

Parents who are paying for college might question the value of spending $80,000 a year so that their son or daughter can read Plato, Hobbes and Thoreau instead of studying molecular biology or machine learning. But discussing life’s big value questions in seminars gives students personal engagement with professors that can never be reproduced in large lecture halls. Discussions among students on their deepest thoughts cultivates curiosity and empathy, and forges bonds of friendship important for citizenship and fulfilling lives.

Although we like to set ourselves apart from the past by appeals to modernity, the fundamental questions that we find ourselves asking are not always modern, and the latest answer is not always right. But how would you know how to think beyond the readily presented check boxes if you haven’t done the work of laying things out and putting them back together for yourself?

War was no less a concern for Thucydides, Tacitus and Thoreau than it is today. Discussing Great Books allows students to gain distance from the daily noise and allows their reason to roam free among principles and foundations rather than becoming absorbed in contemporary events. Our biggest problems are often best addressed not by leaning in but by stepping away to reflect on enduring perspectives.

Liberal arts education is not value neutral. That is why it is indispensable today. Freedom of thought, critical reasoning, empathy for others and respectful disagreement are paramount for a flourishing democratic society. Without them, we get the unreasoned condemnations so pervasive in today’s malignant public discourse. With them, we have a hope of furthering the shared governance that is vital to America’s pluralistic society.

Ezekiel Emanuel and Harun Küçük are on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where Dr. Emanuel is a professor and the vice provost for global initiatives and Dr. Küçük is an associate professor of the history and sociology of science.

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University letters of recommendation: an essential guide

Letters of recommendation can make or break a student’s university application, so it’s important that we get them right

Phillip Wenturine

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There are a plethora of documents that go into compiling the perfect college application. From transcripts to predicted grades, activity lists, resumés or CVs, essays, recommendation letters, certificates and more – each element of the application holds a different purpose and separate weight of importance, often varying from country to country and university to university.

By the senior year (Year 13), academics are nearly finalised, so there’s little wiggle room when it comes to improving that element of the application: senior GPA is set and calculated; IB predictions are nearly issued.

But beyond academics, some universities require recommendation letters, and this is where a student can stand out more, highlighting and emphasising their skills, qualities and abilities. 

These recommendation letters can sometimes illuminate the true heart and soul of the student, beyond their transcripts or personal-statement essay. The words in these letters can make or break a student’s application, so it’s important we get them right and tell their story with the thought and effort it deserves. 

Teacher letters of recommendation

In a teacher’s recommendation letter, students are brought to life beyond their grades, showcasing their holistic potential.

Teachers seize the chance to praise consistent academic excellence, to spotlight specific projects or skills, and to contextualise grade fluctuations resulting from personal circumstances.

These letters illustrate growth, revealing students’ readiness for university life. The emphasis is on articulating acquired skills and potential – a narrative far more impactful than grades alone. While an A-grade student may excel in tests, a B-grade student might exhibit invaluable traits, such as grit and resilience, best articulated through personalised advocacy.

Recommendation letter timelines

To support students and teachers, it’s important to highlight the importance of the teacher recommendation letter early on to teachers and students alike. Let students know as early as grades 10 and 11 (Years 11 and 12) that it’s important to build relationships with teachers well in advance of senior year. The best letters come from those teachers who have an excellent rapport with the student in question.

Ask students in the spring of junior year (Year 12) to select those teachers they would like recommendation letters from. The recommendation should ideally come from a core-subject teacher (maths, science, social studies, English) rather than an elective teacher, unless the elective is a field in which they intend to pursue a career.

To support the teachers, we work with students to compile what we call a brag sheet. Students answer a series of questions about themselves, in order to give the teacher the best context for writing the letter.

We tell teachers that if the student does not provide this brag sheet, or if they feel that the student has not performed well enough in their class to deserve a letter, they are allowed to respectfully decline the request to write the letter.

We also remind teachers that they do not need to agree to write any more than 20 letters. It is unfair if students all ask one teacher – who may then end up writing 60 letters – for a recommendation letter, while other teachers only have to write a few.. With that in mind, we also remind students of the importance of being organised and requesting the letter from their preferred teacher early on.

Writing the letters

Here are some examples of the questions we ask students on their brag sheets, which then give teachers a starting point for their letters:

• What do you hope this letter will show about you that your GPA doesn’t?
• What was a challenge that you faced in this class, and what actions did you take to overcome it?
• Describe how this class influenced you, either through academic content or teacher interaction.
• Give between one and three examples of times when you have exceeded expectations with your communication skills, and also some areas where you can reflect that you may need growth.
• What majors or careers interest you?

To support the teachers further, we host a writing workshop in the spring of each year to give them examples of strong and weak letters (all confidential). We coach them in "show, don't tell" when it comes to writing about students’ strengths, as well as giving them concrete examples of how best to advocate for students and highlight their strengths.

We review what each different country’s universities desire from these letters, as some universities – such as the US – appreciate a holistic view of the student (for example, highlighting student athletes or detailing extracurriculars). By contrast, the UK is very academic-focused and prefers to read about the student’s abilities when working on class projects, research and outside endeavours in the field of study.

Counsellor recommendation letters

Some universities – mostly in the US – also allow a counsellor letter of recommendation. This letter goes beyond academic ability in the classroom and speaks more to students’ characteristics, personality, outside involvement and external factors helpful for an admission committee to review in the context of other application documents.

The counsellor’s role is to fill in the missing pieces of an application: we help identify and tell a student’s story, covering any hardships, exceptional leadership abilities, impressive commitment to community and so on.

Now more than ever, admission committees are telling us that they trust the counsellor and teacher letters to help give them the full picture of a student, and to help them judge whether or not they will be the best fit for their incoming class and able to thrive on their campus.

We send our students what we call a junior questionnaire, in order to collect the information necessary to write these letters successfully.

Some examples of the questions on the junior questionnaire:

• What languages do you speak, and to what level of fluency?
• Please provide some details about your family and highlight any diversity and/or adversity that you have experienced. 
• Have there been any major circumstances that have impacted on your personal or academic life? 
• What are three adjectives you would use to describe yourself? Think deeply about this one. 
• How have you used your time outside of school, and can you elaborate on any particular projects, clubs, work experience, internships, or volunteer work that speaks to consistency in an activity, leadership experience or a particular commitment to have an impact on your community?

External letters

Sometimes students may wish to have an outside recommendation letter from a coach – for example, if they are a student athlete.

Overall, references should be academic-focused, but some universities that accept more than one letter are willing to receive one from an outside observer, too. In these cases, the person should be someone who oversees the student as the coach of a sport or the supervisor of an internship or work-experience programme.

The external referee should give this letter to the counsellor to send off on their behalf, as all recommendation letters must confidential and never shared with the student. 

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Education | Is higher education worth the cost? New study…

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Education | Is higher education worth the cost? New study says it depends on the school

New survey ranks how valuable higher education in california is for low and moderate income learners.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president and CEO of College Futures Foundation, set out to answer that question when he commissioned the HEA Group to analyze how long it would take low and moderate income students to recoup the costs of attending colleges — from four-year institutions and community colleges to trade schools.

“We believe that we are in a crisis moment, particularly when it comes to higher education opportunities,” Oakley said. “We all know that the cost of attendance continues to rise. The public is asking questions about the value of a degree. There are a lot of conversations about whether or not your college degree still has the same value that it once promised.”

Oakley, who is the former chancellor of the California Community Colleges, said higher education is one of the largest investments that students and their families will make in their lifetime, so they should see a return on that investment.

The “Golden Opportunities” study by HEA uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard to determine how long it takes 731,000 low and moderate income students at 292 higher ed institutions in the state to recoup their cost of attendance. Students whose family income is less than $75,000 a year are defined as low and moderate income.

The study calculated the net annual cost of attendance – books, housing, transportation and tuition – after all scholarships and grants are awarded. Then, HEA multiplied that figure by the number of years it would take a student to receive their credential: four years for a bachelor’s, two years for an associate’s and one year for a certificate.

HEA’s study measured the median salary of former students 10 years after their enrollment date, and compared it to the salary of a high school graduate with no college experience – $26,073. That salary was then used to calculate how long it would take a student to pay down the cost of earning their degree.

The HEA Group found that generally, students who received associate’s degrees were able to recoup their educational costs quicker than students who received bachelor’s degrees or certificates.

According to the study, San Jose State University costs $47,769 for a low/moderate income student to attend. Graduates made $45,924 more annually than a student with no college experience. Under that scenario, the former student would recoup their costs of attendance in one year.

A student at De Anza Community College in Cupertino paid $9,117 to attend, and would earn $30,766 more on average than a high school grad without a college degree. In that case, the report found, the former student could get back their cost of attendance in less than six months.

But a student who attended Menlo College in Atherton would have to spend nearly four years earning a salary of $56,512 – barely $30,000 more than a high school graduate without a college degree – before they could recoup the $115,852 it cost to attend the private school.

Michael Itzkowitz, founder and president of the HEA Group, said the analysis aimed to get a bird’s eye view on what kind of economic outcomes colleges and universities are providing students.

“The number one reason why students attend higher education today…is for greater employability and to obtain a financially secure future,” Itzkowitz said. “The number one reason why students don’t attend college is because of cost.”

Itzkowitz said the survey found that most higher ed institutions in California (79%) allowed for low and moderate income students to regain the cost of attendance in five years or less, and nearly a third allowed students to recuperate their costs in under a year.

But 24 schools showed that students received no economic benefit from enrolling in college and earned even less than a typical high school graduate. Many of those schools were cosmetology schools or technical colleges.

“I’d argue that they may actually be worse off financially after they attend, being that they’re earning so little and they paid so much to earn their (credential),” Itzkowitz said.

In California and the Bay Area, Stanford University rose to the top of the list, providing students with the most bang for their buck — with graduates earning on average $73,901 more than someone with without a college degree — and essentially no cost of attendance. But Itzkowitz warned that schools like Stanford that provide the quickest return on investment didn’t necessarily enroll a high number of low and moderate income students. In fact, HEA’s study found that only 18% of Stanford students surveyed were recipients of the Pell Grant, which is available to low-income students who are enrolled full time. The grants do not have to be repaid.

Graduates of UC Berkeley, another highly selective Bay Area university, earned $60,440 more than the average high school grad. UC Berkeley also saw nearly a third of its students qualify for the Pell Grant, allowing them to recoup their cost of attendance in less than a year, the report found.

Oakley said that College Futures and the HEA Group hope to dive deeper into how race, ethnicity, gender and areas of study factor into students’ return on investment. The study’s data also doesn’t factor in how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students.

“California remains one of the best states in terms of providing quality access to post-secondary education in the country,” Oakley said. “That being said, we still have a long way to go.”

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Accord 2024-25 Budget Measures

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As part of the 2024–25 Budget, the Government is delivering on reforms recommended by the Australian Universities Accord.

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This include reforms to ease cost-of-living pressure on students, improve equity, and increase access to tertiary education opportunities for more Australians, particularly in outer suburban and regional areas.

Structural reforms will also be progressed to create a better and fairer tertiary education system that will help secure a Future Made in Australia.

Higher Education Loan Program – fairer indexation

The Australian Government has listened to students’ concerns and will make HELP fairer by improving the way indexation is calculated so that HELP debts do not grow faster than wages in the future.

New Commonwealth Prac Payment

$427.4 million to introduce a new Commonwealth Prac Payment from 1 July 2025 to support eligible teaching, nursing and midwifery, and social work students in higher education and Vocational Education and Training as they undertake mandatory practicum placements.

FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses

$350.3 million in additional Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding over four years to deliver FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses to help more students who aspire to university gain the skills they need to participate.

Australian Tertiary Education Commission

The Government has committed to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) as an independent steward of Australia’s tertiary education system. The ATEC will work to drive growth and meet national skills needs through equity measures, and create a cohesive and diverse tertiary education system.

Tertiary Education Harmonisation

The Australian Government will invest $27.7 million over 4 years to 2027-28 in a range of initiatives to drive harmonisation between the higher education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors.

Managed growth funding for universities

The Government will introduce a new funding system for Commonwealth supported places (CSPs), from 1 January 2026, to meet student demand, maintain sustainable growth and increase opportunity for people from under-represented backgrounds.

Needs-based Funding System

The Government will introduce new Needs-based Funding System to better support students from underrepresented backgrounds participate and succeed in higher education.

Student Services and Amenities Fee – revenue allocation

The Government will require higher education providers to allocate a minimum of 40% of the Student Services and Amenities Fee revenue to student-led organisations, including student associations, student unions and student guilds.

Charles Darwin University medical school

The Government will provide $24.6 million for Charles Darwin University to establish a medical school from 2026 to help build a health workforce to support the Northern Territory’s unique health challenges.

International Education and Skills Strategic Framework

The Government will develop a new International Education and Skills Strategic Framework for a managed system to deliver sustainable growth over time, and to improve the quality and integrity of Australia’s international education sector.

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An Open Comparative Study of the Effectiveness and Incomparable Study of the Immunogenicity and Safety of the Vaccine (CoviVac) for Adults Aged 60 Years and Older

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SARS-CoV-2 infection • A case of established COVID-19 disease confirmed by PCR and/or ELISA in the last 6 months.

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• Serious post-vaccination reaction (temperature above 40 C, hyperemia or edema more than 8 cm in diameter) or complication (collapse or shock-like condition that developed within 48 hours after vaccination; convulsions, accompanied or not accompanied by a feverish state) to any previous vaccination.
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