Tanel Baehr
12/18/15
The Relationship between Sleep and GPAs in College Students
Concordia University
Statement of Problem: College is often said to be a significant time of one’s life. It is full
of new experiences including living away from one’s parents for most likely the first time,
encountering demanding classes, and facing new social contexts. College involves making one’s
own decisions, which most students are not accustomed to. One important decision that
college students must make concerns sleep. Studies show that the majority of college students
are sleep deprived as a result of not sleeping enough during the night and not getting good
quality sleep when they do sleep (Galambos, 2010).
Since the purpose of college is to prepare a student for their future career, it is
important that these student are alert and retaining and understanding the material that they
are being taught. Grade Point Average (GPA) is a number representing the average value of the
accumulated final grades earned in courses. This average is based on a 4.0 point scale. GPAs
are a reflection of what grades the student gets in college and are usually looked at by future
employers. It is important that a student has at least a GPA of 3.0 to show that they have
worked hard and that they understood the materials that they have been taught throughout
their college career.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, the study will examine the
relationship between the quantity of sleep and GPA scores in college students. Second, the
study will examine the quality of sleep in relation to GPAs in college students.
Research Questions: How does the amount of sleep affect GPAs of college students?
How does the quality of sleep affect the GPA scores of college students? How many hours of
quality sleep is related to good (at least 3.0) GPAs? Do students living on campus or off campus
get more sleep? Do students living on campus or off campus get better quality sleep?
Definition of Terms:

Evening phase preference: “Night Owls” or people who like to stay up late
(Taylor, 2010).

Delayed sleep phase syndrome: Difficulty in falling asleep and waking up at
normal times (long sleep latency on weekdays, normal sleep length on
weekends, and difficulty staying asleep) (Taylor, 2010).

Grade Point Average (GPA) is a number representing the average value of the
accumulated final grades earned in courses. This average is based on a 4.0 point
scale.
Significance of Study: This issue has been studied before. Many of the studies also
include other components such as, the effects of sleep on job performance and the changes in
sleep throughout four years of college. This study only includes the effects of amount of sleep
and quality of sleep on GPAs in college students. This study is important because it shows
college students the importance of sleep for their GPA scores, which could impact their future.
Review of Literature: “Sleep problems have been associated with deficits in attention
and academic performance, drowsy driving, risk-taking behavior and depression, impaired
social relationships, and poorer health” (Gaultney, p. 91, 2010). “A common sleep problem
among college students is sleep deprivation resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness”
(Gaultney, p. 91, 2010). A typical coping technique for dealing with sleep deprivation is to
attempt to make up for lost sleep by increasing sleep on the weekends, a practice that actually
worsens the problem” (Gaultney, p. 91, 2010).
In addition, many students tend to have evening phase preference, meaning that they
prefer to stay up late at night (Taylor, 2010). Evening phase preference “…has been correlated
with habitual napping, unplanned oversleeping, excessive daytime sleepiness, and sleep
disorders (Taylor, p. 541). Evening phase preference is also associated with worse psychological
functioning, including depression, anxiety, stress and difficulties coping, substance use and
abuse, and behavioral and emotional problems and suicidality.
Finally, evening phase preference is related to academic procrastination, reports of
poorer memory, missing classes due to over-sleeping, and decreased academic performance
(Taylor, 2010). One study stated that, “Those who reported no sleep disorder had a higher
GPA…than those who reported at least one sleep disorder…” (Gaultney, p. 93, 2010). Another
study found that, “…sleep-deprived students performed poorly on learning capacity skills such
as attention, memory, and problem-solving tasks, and that the lack of sleep therefore affected
their academic performance.
Moreover, sleep loss resulted in daytime sleepiness that was also correlated with poor
academic performance” (Chiang, p. 3, 2014). Sleep length was also found to be important.
Researchers found that, “…the mean GPA of short sleepers was 0.5 points lower than that of
long sleepers” (Chiang, p. 3, 2014). Another study found that, “…in semesters when GPA was
higher, students reported going to bed earlier. On average, each 1-point increase in GPA was
related to a 14-min earlier bedtime” (Galambos, p. 18, 2010).
There are several factors that affect a student’s sleep. One factor for sleep is living
arrangements. Not all studies found a correlation with living arrangements and sleep, however
one study found that “…poor sleep was more frequent among students living on than off
campus” (Galambos, p. 9, 2010). Another factor is the student’s social life. It was found that,
“Socially active university students were more likely to be without sleep pathology, compared
to the less socially active. In a daily diary study, university students who got together with
friends during the day slept more that night. Considering the first year of university, in months
when students spent more time with friends, they also reported less disturbed sleep. Social
activities might be related to better sleep because of the impact of social support on
psychological well-being, as social support buffers the negative effects of stress” (Galambos, p.
10, 2010). Finally “Alcohol use is also linked with less sleep, later sleep-wake schedules,
bedtime delay (later weekend than weeknight bedtimes), and oversleep (sleeping more on
weekends than weeknights)” (Galambos, p. 10, 2010). In women, sleep quantity improved
throughout their college career while men’s sleep quality declined. “…By the end of their
fourth year, women had gained 40 minutes of sleep per average night and men had lost 22
minutes” (Galambos, p. 18, 2010).
Methodology:
Population: The population that was studied consisted of 1,152 undergraduate students
at a small, Midwestern university in the 2014-2015 school year.
Instrument Design: A written questionnaire comprised of nine simple questions was
created using the online tool, Survey Monkey. All of the questions were multiple choice and
either allowed the students to choose only one answer or more than one answer. In addition,
on a few of the questions, students were given the option to write in their own answer if none
of the choices worked for them.
Procedures: The questionnaire was distributed to students at a small, Midwestern
university in the 2014-2015 school year via email using Survey Monkey.
Data Analysis: Data was collected and analyzed using simple descriptive statistics with
specific cross tabulation.
Discussion of Results: This nine item questionnaire was distributed to 1,152 students at
a small, Midwestern university in the 2014-2015 school year. Fifty-seven students responded
to the questionnaire with an overall response rate of 4.95%. Out of the 57 students that began
the survey, 52 completed the survey with a rate of 91.23%.
This questionnaire consisted of demographic questions as well as questions asking the
students about their sleep (quantity and quality), GPA, and what they thought was affecting
their sleep and GPA. All of the questions were multiple choice.
Of the 57 respondents, 48 (84.21%) of the students were female and 9 (15.79%) of the
students were male. Seventeen (29.82%) respondents were freshmen, 17 (29.82%) were
sophomores, 7 (12.28%) were juniors and 16 (28.07%) were seniors or super seniors (Figure 1).
Forty-three (75.44%) of the respondents lived on-campus and 14 (24.56%) lived off-campus.
Figure 1: Classification
N=57
The students were asked how many hours of sleep they got on weekdays (Sunday
through Thursday) on average. None (0%) of the respondents slept 0-3.99 hours, 24 (42.86%)
slept 4.00 to 6.99 hours, 32 (57.14%) slept 7.00-8.99 hours and none (0%) of the students slept
9.00 or more hours of sleep each night (Figure 2). One cross tab showed that freshmen got the
least amount of sleep with 52.94% sleeping for 4.00 to 6.99 hours. Another cross tab showed
that students living on-campus and off-campus slept exactly the same hours with 42.86%
sleeping 4.00-6.99 hours and 57.14% sleeping 7.00-8.99 hours per night on weekdays.
Figure 2: Quantity of Sleep on Weekdays
N=56
The students were then asked how many hours of sleep they got each night during the
weekend (Friday through Saturday) on average. None (0%) of the respondents slept 0-3.99
hours, 10 (17.54%) slept 4.00-6.99 hours, 28 (49.12%) slept 7.00-8.99 hours and 19 (33.33%)
slept 9.00 or more hours per night (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Quantity of Sleep on the Weekends
N=57
The next question asked the students what they thought was affecting the amount of
sleep that they got. This question allowed the students to check all of the choices that applied.
Fifty (87.72%) of respondents said that homework was affecting their quantity of sleep, 26
(45.61) answered stress, 12 (21.05%) answered job, 32 (56.14%) answered extra-curricular
activities, 34 (59.65%) answered distractions such as their cell phone, TV, video games or
Netflix, and 41 (71.93%) answered social life (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Factors Affecting Quantity of Sleep
N=57
The students were asked what they thought was affecting the quality of sleep that they
got. This question also allowed the respondents to check all answers that applied. Two (3.64%)
answered that medications affected their quality of sleep, 30 (54.55%) answered stress, 2
(3.64%) answered sleep disorder, 20 (36.36%) answered noise, and 16 (29.09%) answered that
nothing affected their quality of sleep. In addition, this question allowed respondents to write
in their own answer. Four respondents did this and answered caffeine intake, roommate,
depression and having kids (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Factors Affecting Quality of Sleep
N=55
The next question asked the students what their overall GPA average was. Forty-six
students (80.70%) answered 3.0-4.0, 11 (19.30%) answered 2.0-2.99, and none (0%) answered
less than 2.0 (Figure 6). Students living off-campus were significantly less disturbed by noise
(7.69%) than people living on-campus (45.24%).
Figure 6: GPA
N=57
The final question asked students what they thought was affecting their overall GPA.
This question allowed students to check all answers that applied. Three (5.77%) students
answered job, 17 (32.69%) answered lack of sleep, 26 (50%) answered difficulty of material, 5
(9.62%) answered not completing homework, 26 (50%) answered not studying, 14 (26.92%)
answered extra-curricular activities, 25 (48.08%) answered distractions such as their cell phone,
TV, video games or Netflix, 18 (34.62%) answered social life. In addition, students write in their
own answered. Three students did this and their answers were personal and emotional issues,
nothing, and not applying oneself (Figure 7). A cross tab showed that about the same amount
of students (79.17%) sleeping 4.00 to 6.99 hours had a decent GPA (3.0-4.0) as students
(81.25%) sleeping 7.00-8.99 (a healthy amount) hours of sleep per night.
Figure 7: Factors Affecting GPA
N=52
Conclusion and Recommendations: This study did not find a clear relationship between
sleep and GPA. The results show that there are many other factors that seem to be affecting
GPA more than lack of sleep (32.69%), such as not studying (50%), difficulty of material (50%),
and distractions such as cell phones, TV, video games or Netflix (48.08%).
This study would have had different results with more respondents. In addition, more
of a variety would be helpful as well as most of the students who completed this survey were
freshmen who probably do not know their current GPA.
Appendix A:
Dear Students,
My name is Tanel Baehr, and I am a senior majoring in Community Health and Gerontology. For
my Senior Seminar research study, I am looking at the relationship between Sleep and Grade
Point Averages (GPAs). I would really appreciate it if you filled out this brief questionnaire. It
should only take about 5 minutes of your time.
Your specific responses will be kept confidential at all times and will be combined with others’
responses for analysis. Your completion of this survey implies your consent to be a part of this
research study. Please email Tanel.Baehr@cune.org or Vicki.Boye@cune.edu if you have any
questions or concerns.
The link below will take you to the online questionnaire. Thank you so much for your time and
willingness to participate!
Tanel Baehr
Link to online questionnaire:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TanelBaehr
Appendix B:
This questionnaire examines the relationship between Sleep and Grade Point Averages (GPA).
Thank you for your willingness to participate!
1. What is your gender?
Male
Female
2. What is your classification?
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior or Super Senior
3. Where do you live?
On Campus
Off Campus
4. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get per night during the week (SundayThursday)?
0-3.99 Hours
4.00-6.99 Hours
7.00-8.99 Hours
9.00 or more Hours
5. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get per night during the weekend (FridaySaturday)?
0-3.99 Hours
4.00-6.99 Hours
7.00-8.99 Hours
9.00 or more Hours
6. What do you think is affecting the amount of sleep that you get? (Check all that apply)
Homework
Stress
Job
Extra-curricular activities
Distractions (cell phone, TV, video games, Netflix, etc.)
Social life
7. What do you think is affecting the quality of sleep that you get? (Check all that apply)
Medications
Stress
Sleep Disorder
Noise
Nothing
Other (please specify)
8. What is your overall Grade Point Average (GPA)?
3.0-4.0
2.0-2.99
Less than 2.0
9. What do you think is affecting your overall Grade Point Average (GPA)? (Check all that
apply)
Job
Lack of sleep
Difficulty of material
Not completing homework
Not studying
Extra-curricular activities
Distractions (cell phone, TV, video games, Netflix, etc.)
Social life
Other (please specify)
Thank you for completing this questionnaire!
References
Chiang, Y., Arendt, S. W., Zheng, T., & Hanisch, K. A. (2014). The Effects of Sleep on Academic
Performance and Job Performance. College Student Journal, 48(1). 72-87.
Gaultney, J. F. (2010). The Prevalence of Sleep Disorders in College Students: Impact on
Academic Performance. Journal Of American College Health, 59(2), 91-97.
Galambos, N. L., Vargas Lascano, D. I., Howard, A. L., & Maggs, J. L. (2013). Who Sleeps Best?
Longitudinal Patterns and Covariates of Change in Sleep Quantity, Quality, and Timing
Across Four University Years. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 11(1).
Taylor, D. J., Clay, K. C., Bramoweth, A. D. Sethi, K., & Roane, B. M. (2011). Circadian Phase
Preference in College Students: Relationships With Psychological Functioning and
Academics. Chronobiology International: The Journal Of Biological & Medical Rhythm
Research, 28(6).