25 Controversial Debate Topics for College Students

In our list of 25 controversial debate topics for college students, you’ll find both common and uncommon controversies every college student will be eager to argue. Most college students love a good debate, whether serious or insignificant. Since finishing high school, and most likely debating Edward vs. Jacob in the Twilight series, our college students of today are no doubt itching for more.

In order to change the world, you’ll have to debate more than just teenage heartthrobs. Students should be challenged with real world issues, as well as smaller issues that affect more than we think, like whether boredom is harmful or beneficial to the individual.

After graduating from debating some of the topics in the 15 Easiest Debate Topics for High School, college students should be prepared to debate topics that are a little meatier. After all, they make up the future.

We derived most of our topics from educational sites like Debate, ProCon, The NY Times and Food Republic. They’re divided into six separate categories: World, Country, Food, Education, Work Life and Personal. There’s no doubt that a strong argument can be put up for both sides of these questions, especially because many of these issues were debated in the recent US election campaign.

Those topics take up most of the World and Country categories, but the others are surprisingly pivotal as well. Have you noticed how controversial food arguments have been lately? (And no, we’re not talking about Coke vs. Pepsi.)

Educational issues should also be especially interesting to college students since they face them daily. They know from first-hand experience.

On the other hand, Work Life is the typical goal for a college student, if they’re not facing it already. Rightly, those issues should be argued by today’s college students.

And lastly, everyday life issues, like we discuss in our Personal category, can hardly be ignored. Though they may not seem important, they certainly do affect society greatly when added up.

So whether you attend college or not, no matter your country, no matter your age, you’ll likely have an opinion about every issue, so be prepared to get a little fired up while you scan our list of 25 controversial debate topics for college students.

 

World

25. Is sexual orientation determined at birth or later in life?

24. Is the death penalty ethical or not?

23. Are monopolies such as Walmart harmful or beneficial to the economy?

22. Is total equality in society only a dream or a reality for the future?

21. Is global warming a farce or a reality?

20. Should Pluto be considered an official planet or not?

19. Are newspapers going extinct or not?

 

Country

18. Should the private lives of politicians matter or not?

17. Is the media liberal, conservative or unbiased?

16. Which types of voter ballots are more effective: electronic or paper?

 

Food

15. Is eating meat ethical or not?

14. Are GMOs dangerous to the diet or not?

13. Should junk food and/or sugary food be consumed in schools or not?

 

Education

12. Should college education be free or not?

(This one on the list of 25 controversial debate topics for college students may not be too controversial for the poor, paycheck-to-paycheck-living college student.)

11. Is college education worth all the time, effort, and money, or not?

10. Should foreign language be taught in schools or not?

 

Work Life

9. Should companies send out work emails over the weekend or not?

8. Is it more important to earn more money or to love your job?

7. Is the customer always right?

6. Should men receive paternity leave or not?

Personal

5. Does age matter in romantic relationships or not?

4. Does correct grammar and punctuation in text messages matter or not?

3. Is left-brain/right-brain dominance a myth?

2. Is peer pressure harmful or beneficial to the individual?

1. Is boredom harmful or beneficial to the individual?

It’s time to cool off – the 25 controversial debate topics for college students list is now finished.