19 Minutes More Sleep Lifted US College Students' Grades

A randomised trial of more than 1,100 US college students has found that paying them small cash rewards to sleep seven or more hours a night led to a measurable, lasting rise in grades. The study, published in the Journal of Political Economy on 4 August 2026 by economists Osea Giuntella, Silvia Saccardo and Sally Sadoff, gave one group Fitbit trackers, personalised bedtime reminders and payments of around $4.75 a night for hitting the seven-hour target over four weeks. A control group wore the same trackers but received no reminders or payments. Sleep tracking data was later linked to participants' official university transcripts. The treatment group slept an average of 19 extra minutes a night during the trial, a 26 percent increase in nights meeting the seven-hour goal, and went on to record grade point averages 0.075 to 0.089 points higher than the control group that semester.

What the researchers found and did not find

The effect held mainly for first-year and STEM students, the groups researchers say are most likely to be adjusting to managing their own schedules for the first time. Even after the cash incentives stopped, students in the treatment group kept sleeping around 8 extra minutes a night compared with the control group, suggesting some habit change persisted beyond the payment period. The researchers, writing in the Journal of Political Economy and reported by Phys.org and ScienceAlert, describe the grade gain as "relatively modest" and say it warrants replication in further studies. The trial covered US undergraduates over a single semester, using a smartphone app for reminders and feedback rather than any product or supplement; it does not show whether the effect would hold in a UK student population or over a longer period.

What this means for your supplement routine

This trial changed sleep habits with reminders and cash, not with a supplement, so it says nothing about whether any product improves sleep or grades. It is still a useful data point on how much a fairly small, consistent change in sleep duration is worth, at a time when many UK adults already spend money on a magnesium, L-theanine or vitamin D product to support their own sleep routine. Anyone comparing what is already in that routine against the wider market can browse the sleep and recovery range to see what is available.

How Perqen members save

Perqen members pay £4.99 a month or £29.99 a year for member pricing across the full 1,393-product catalogue, including the sleep and recovery range. Full details of how membership pricing works are on the membership page.

This article reports published news and research and is for information only. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet or medical care, and no product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medicines.

Sources

• Incentives to sleep boost college students' grades, new study finds
• A Simple Change to Sleep Directly Boosts Academic Performance, Study Reveals

Originally reported by Phys.org. This article has been reviewed by Dr Tosin.