Sleep Predicts Collegiate Academic Performance: Implications for Equity in Student Retention and Success.

College students show high levels of insufficient sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep schedule irregularity, poor sleep quality, and inadequate sleep hygiene. This article describes the evidence linking poor sleep with impaired academic performance; discusses mediating environmental, behavioral, and demographic factors that correlate with sleep; and highlights examples of successful health promotion initiatives on college campuses. Given that students who are traditionally minoritized on college campuses tend to have worse sleep, improving sleep health emerges as an important issue for retention, equity, and inclusion.

Follow-up to Hartmann & Prichard: Should universities invest in promoting healthy sleep? A question of academic and economic significance.

OBJECTIVE: We use regression results from Hartmann & Prichard (2018) in conjunction with other publicly available data to estimate the economic benefits from early identification and treatment of sleep problems on raising the likelihood of students' college graduation and future earnings. RESULTS: The benefits of improved graduation rates and future earnings exceed the cost of being screened, educated, and treated for sleep problems. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the demand for information about healthy sleep by students and the established link between sleep problems and academic success, universities should consider instituting sleep health programs to identify and support students with sleep disturbances early in their academic careers.