They may actually be sleep-deprived. New research shows that college students largely make up the sleepiest group in a sleepy nation, risking dangerous academic and social consequences. While many professors blaze through their lessons as planned, some refuse to teach during high-doze times. While many students behave as if they are immune to sleep, Maas said they actually need to snooze more than other adults to reach optimum performance. Students should sleep 9 hours each day, compared to the eight hours everyone else needs, he said.
College students fit right in there.
Maas and a team of researchers from Stanford University found that only 1 percent of students at Cornell and Stanford said they were fully awake all day, while 25 percent reported that they took daily naps. Then there are people like Namita Bhatnagar, a doctorate student in marketing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who said she doesn't have a set sleep pattern at all. Sickness and exaggerated effects from alcohol consumption are among his chief concerns. Research shows the effect one alcoholic drink has on someone who is getting between five and six hours of sleep each night is the equivalent of six drinks consumed by someone who is getting the proper amount of shut-eye. Maas advises students to establish regular sleeping patterns.