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We paid college students about $5 a night to sleep at least 7 hours - and their grades quickly improved

The Conversation • September 15, 2026 • nation

Key Points:

A study at the University of Pittsburgh found that paying college students about $5 per night to sleep at least seven hours increased their nights of adequate sleep by 26% and improved their GPA by 0.08 points during the semester.
The intervention involved over 1,100 undergraduates wearing Fitbit trackers and receiving bedtime reminders, with 468 students randomly selected to receive nightly payments for meeting the sleep goal over four weeks.
Students initially averaged 6.6 hours of sleep per night, often going to bed after 1 a.m., and most underestimated how little they actually slept; the financial incentive led to an average increase of 19 minutes of sleep per night.
The positive effects on sleep persisted for up to a month after payments stopped, especially among first-term freshmen, but the GPA improvements faded after two academic terms.
The study suggests universities should consider how academic schedules and environments impact sleep habits and explore immediate financial incentives or other strategies to promote adequate sleep as part of student well-being and academic success.

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