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Does early bird catch the worm or a lower GPA? Evidence from a liberal arts college

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  • Timothy M. Diette
  • Manu Raghav

Abstract

Research in psychology has shown that early morning classes are not conducive to learning because of the peculiar sleep cycles of adolescents and young adults that cause them to be especially groggy in the morning. Our study examines the relationship between the times that classes are offered and the grades that students in these classes earn at a highly selective liberal arts college. Our main findings are that morning classes are harmful for student achievement. Grades are especially lower for classes that were scheduled at 8 am and 9 am. Moreover, while students of both genders are adversely affected by early morning courses, the effects are particularly pronounced for male students. This institution assigns students randomly to different sections of the same course, thus creating a quasi-natural experiment and enabling us to control for unobserved characteristics of students. In addition, we include student and faculty fixed effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy M. Diette & Manu Raghav, 2017. "Does early bird catch the worm or a lower GPA? Evidence from a liberal arts college," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(33), pages 3341-3350, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:49:y:2017:i:33:p:3341-3350
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2016.1259750
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    1. Cortes, Kalena E. & Bricker, Jesse & Rohlfs, Chris, 2010. "The Role of Specific Subjects in Education Production Functions: Evidence from Morning Classes in Chicago Public High Schools," IZA Discussion Papers 5031, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    5. Scott E. Carrell & Teny Maghakian & James E. West, 2011. "A's from Zzzz's? The Causal Effect of School Start Time on the Academic Achievement of Adolescents," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 62-81, August.
    6. Timothy M Diette & Manu Raghav, 2015. "Class Size Matters: Heterogeneous Effects of Larger Classes on College Student Learning," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 41(2), pages 273-283, March.
    7. Timothy M. Diette & Manu Raghav, 2016. "A student's dilemma: is there a trade-off between a higher salary or higher GPA," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(6), pages 612-621, November.
    8. Jesse Bricker & Kalena E. Cortes & Chris Rohlfs, 2010. "The role of specific subjects in education production functions: evidence from morning classes in Chicago public high schools," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2010-33, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    9. Peter Hinrichs, 2011. "When the Bell Tolls: The Effects of School Starting Times on Academic Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(4), pages 486-507, October.
    10. Dills, Angela K. & Hernández-Julián, Rey, 2008. "Course scheduling and academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 646-654, December.
    11. Alexandra C. Achen & Paul N. Courant, 2009. "What Are Grades Made Of?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(3), pages 77-92, Summer.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anthony LokTing Yim, 2023. "How Early Morning Classes Change Academic Trajectories: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Purdue University Economics Working Papers 1334, Purdue University, Department of Economics.
    2. Groen, Jeffrey A. & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2019. "Snooze or lose: High school start times and academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 204-218.
    3. Williams, Kevin M. & Shapiro, Teny Maghakian, 2018. "Academic achievement across the day: Evidence from randomized class schedules," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 158-170.
    4. Jonathan A. Tillinghast & Dr. James W. Mjelde & Anna Yeritsyan, 2023. "COVID-19 and Grade Inflation: Analysis of Undergraduate GPAs During the Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    5. Timothy M. Diette & Manu Raghav, 2018. "Do GPAs Differ Between Longer Classes and More Frequent Classes at Liberal Arts Colleges?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(4), pages 519-527, June.
    6. Cotti, Chad & Gordanier, John & Ozturk, Orgul, 2018. "Class meeting frequency, start times, and academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 12-15.
    7. Sing Chen Yeo & Clin K. Y. Lai & Jacinda Tan & Samantha Lim & Yuvan Chandramoghan & Teck Kiang Tan & Joshua J. Gooley, 2023. "Early morning university classes are associated with impaired sleep and academic performance," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(4), pages 502-514, April.
    8. Lenard, Matthew & Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Westall, John, 2020. "High school start times and student achievement: Looking beyond test scores," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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