Make sleep a campus priority and not an invisible student burden.
Colleges track attendance, retention, wellbeing, and academic performance, yet the conditions affecting student rest often go unmeasured. Without data, problems linked to schedules, housing, workload, and campus culture are easy to overlook.
This toolkit provides a clear starting point!
Use it to uncover sleep barriers, establish meaningful metrics, monitor change, and build a campus environment that supports healthier rest and stronger student outcomes.
Why Sleep Metrics Matter
Many campuses already collect student health, counseling, housing, and wellness data. What is often missing is a clear way to connect that information and answer:
- Is student sleep health improving over time?
- How many students are experiencing sleep difficulties?
- Which campus conditions may be contributing?
- Which groups are carrying more of the burden?
When campuses measure sleep clearly, they can identify gaps, set priorities, and track meaningful progress.
What’s Inside
Who This Toolkit Is For
Featured Tool: The Sleep Burden Index
AThe Sleep Burden Index combines three indicators into one campus-level score:
- Students sleeping fewer than seven hours on weeknights
- Students taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep
- Students experiencing frequent daytime tiredness
Higher scores indicate greater sleep strain across the student population. The index gives campuses a simple starting point for monitoring trends and communicating findings.
Start Measuring What Matters
Campuses do not need to measure everything at once. Begin with one indicator, one department, or one reporting cycle.
Download the toolkit and take the first step toward a more sleep-supportive campus.
- SleepLiteracy.org
- Version 1.0
- August 2026
- Licensed under CC BY 4.0
- Contact/feedback form/newsletter signup