High School

• Capstone projects in high school can involve planning and organizing activities; improving a current system or machine; or creating a new product or service. Topics for capstone projects related to planning and organizing activities can be organizing a job fair, a canned food drive or an art show. Topics for capstone projects related to improving a system or machine can be finding a new way to clean water, making a computer work better; or creating a game for an mobile device. Topics for capstone projects related to creating a new product or service can be can be designing and building a desk, baseball bat or park bench; creating a service tutoring students; or investigating how money is spent by the local government.
  
  

Community College

• Topics for community college capstone projects depend upon the field and/or course a student is studying. For example, topics for capstone research paper projects in philosophy can be affirmative action, marijuana legalization, abolition of the death penalty or assisted suicide for the terminally ill. Example topics for a Computer Aided Design Class can be designing a house, an apartment building or a plumbing system.
  
  

College and Universities

• Four-year colleges and universities often have capstone projects that are required for graduation. For example, at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health a capstone project is required in order to receive a bachelor's degree. Some topics for this field are connections of disease to tobacco use, parent attitudes toward vaccinating children for communicable diseases, and observations of influenza outbreaks in prescribed, specific areas. A capstone project is also required for a degree in atmospheric sciences at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Some topics for these projects can include air pollution, climate studies and flooding studies.
  
  

Graduate Schools

• Almost all graduate programs require a capstone project. They can range from a 50-page research paper to a multimedia presentation. Topics usually need to be approved by a professor and the final project is evaluated by a panel of educators. Topics vary according to the department in which a student is enrolled. For example, at the Temple University School Department of Strategic Communication some topics can be cultural differences of a communication medium in two different countries, stereotypes and coping strategies for a specific group of people and corporate responsibility. For a graduate degree in history, some topics might be reenactment of a war battle, a series of lesson plans about a period in world history, development of an exhibition about Native Americans at a local library.