diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4be4dba..aed6639 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@
     "draft-js": "^0.11.7",
     "draftjs-to-html": "^0.9.1",
     "firebase": "^9.6.7",
-    "framer-motion": "^4.0.0",
     "hammerjs": "^2.0.8",
     "json-schema": "^0.4.0",
     "lodash": "^4.17.21",
diff --git a/src/components/commonForm/CommonForm.tsx b/src/components/commonForm/CommonForm.tsx
index 3b696a6..ee23ed3 100644
--- a/src/components/commonForm/CommonForm.tsx
+++ b/src/components/commonForm/CommonForm.tsx
@@ -60,6 +60,29 @@ const CommonForm: React.FC<Props> = props => {
   }, [props.schema, props.commonDefinitionsSchema]);
   const uiSchema: JSONSchema7 = useMemo(() => JSON.parse(props.uiSchema), [props.uiSchema]);
 
+  const validateEssayWordCount = (formData: any, errors: any) => {
+    if (formData.essays.length !== 0) {
+      const schema = JSON.parse(props.schema);
+      const { essays } = formData;
+      // eslint-disable-next-line guard-for-in
+      for (const topic in essays) {
+        let s = essays[topic] !== undefined ? essays[topic] : "";
+
+        // Credit: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18679576/counting-words-in-string
+        s = s.replace(/(^\s*)|(\s*$)/gi, ""); // exclude  start and end white-space
+        s = s.replace(/[ ]{2,}/gi, " "); // 2 or more space to 1
+        s = s.replace(/\n /, "\n"); // exclude newline with a start spacing
+        const curWordCount = s.split(" ").filter((str: string) => str !== "").length;
+
+        const topicWordCount = schema.properties.essays?.properties[topic].wordCount || 100;
+        if (curWordCount > topicWordCount) {
+          errors.essays[topic].addError(`Essay cannot be over ${topicWordCount} words`);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return errors;
+  };
+
   return (
     <ErrorBoundary FallbackComponent={ErrorFallback} resetKeys={[props.schema, props.uiSchema]}>
       <Form
@@ -76,6 +99,7 @@ const CommonForm: React.FC<Props> = props => {
         noHtml5Validate
         showErrorList={false}
         transformErrors={transformErrors}
+        validate={validateEssayWordCount}
       >
         {props.children}
       </Form>
diff --git a/src/components/commonForm/widgets/EssayWidget.tsx b/src/components/commonForm/widgets/EssayWidget.tsx
index 8ba85dd..ff02852 100644
--- a/src/components/commonForm/widgets/EssayWidget.tsx
+++ b/src/components/commonForm/widgets/EssayWidget.tsx
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ const getWordCount = (value?: string) => {
   return curWordCount;
 };
 
-// TODO: Make this a dynamic value
-const WORD_COUNT_LIMIT = 100;
-
 const EssayWidget: React.FC<WidgetProps> = props => {
   const _onChange = ({ target: { value } }: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLTextAreaElement>) =>
     props.onChange(value === "" ? props.options.emptyValue : value);
@@ -33,6 +30,7 @@ const EssayWidget: React.FC<WidgetProps> = props => {
     props.onFocus(props.id, value);
 
   const wordCount = getWordCount(props.value);
+  const wordCountLimit = (props.schema as any).wordCount || 100;
 
   return (
     <FormControl
@@ -55,8 +53,8 @@ const EssayWidget: React.FC<WidgetProps> = props => {
         onBlur={_onBlur}
         onFocus={_onFocus}
       />
-      <Text color={wordCount > WORD_COUNT_LIMIT ? "red" : "gray"} marginTop="5px">
-        {wordCount} / {WORD_COUNT_LIMIT} words
+      <Text color={wordCount > wordCountLimit ? "red" : "gray"} marginTop="5px">
+        {wordCount} / {wordCountLimit} words
       </Text>
     </FormControl>
   );
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index d648cf5..232320a 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -7072,19 +7072,6 @@ fragment-cache@^0.2.1:
   dependencies:
     map-cache "^0.2.2"
 
-framer-motion@^4.0.0:
-  version "4.1.17"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/framer-motion/-/framer-motion-4.1.17.tgz#4029469252a62ea599902e5a92b537120cc89721"
-  integrity sha512-thx1wvKzblzbs0XaK2X0G1JuwIdARcoNOW7VVwjO8BUltzXPyONGAElLu6CiCScsOQRI7FIk/45YTFtJw5Yozw==
-  dependencies:
-    framesync "5.3.0"
-    hey-listen "^1.0.8"
-    popmotion "9.3.6"
-    style-value-types "4.1.4"
-    tslib "^2.1.0"
-  optionalDependencies:
-    "@emotion/is-prop-valid" "^0.8.2"
-
 framesync@5.3.0:
   version "5.3.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/framesync/-/framesync-5.3.0.tgz#0ecfc955e8f5a6ddc8fdb0cc024070947e1a0d9b"