By: Madeline Trotta – Published in Fall 2024 Issue 3
As registration season is now upon us, I’m sure many college students can understand the dread surrounding 8 a.m. classes, especially mandatory classes only offered at that time. 8 a.m. is the traditional start time for most institutions, including Siena, although some even offer 7 a.m. classes. Recently, however, there have been discussions, including in scientific research, about whether or not these classes are beneficial to students, and if they should be abolished altogether.
As someone who has taken an 8 a.m. class, I can attest that there are pros and cons. Taking a class so early in the most recent spring semester encouraged me to go to sleep earlier and develop a better sleep schedule, which I have maintained through the summer and into the fall, even though my classes are a bit later now. However, I completely understand those who find attendance in 8 a.m. classes to be difficult for a variety of reasons, especially as a commuter. When I had class at 8 a.m., I had to leave my house much earlier before class began in order to account for early-morning traffic, on top of simply waking up earlier in the day. Given this excess time commitment, the consolation of getting a slightly better parking spot in the morning hardly seemed worth it, and I found myself wishing that this mandatory class could have had an additional later time slot.
A study from February 2023 has recently confirmed the complaints about sleep, attendance, and engagement regarding 8 a.m. classes that students have been voicing for ages. According to this study published in Nature Human Behavior, 8 a.m. classes were associated with on average one hour of sleep loss per night, 10% less attendance than later classes, and poorer academic performance as indicated by GPA, potentially owing to sleep loss’s negative impact on brain function, among other harmful effects.
The authors of this study concluded that mandatory classes should not be scheduled at 8 a.m., which is the most rational argument based on this evidence. While I recognize that some students like early classes or fit them more easily into their schedules than later classes, and therefore some early options should remain, it is both disrespectful to paying students and unsafe for their health and success to have any mandatory class take place in the earliest time slot. Mandatory classes should therefore be offered at multiple times during the day whenever possible. Furthermore, if we truly want to enable students to develop healthy sleep schedules, the same logic should apply to later classes, such as those ending at 9 p.m., which may be preferable to some students but should not be forced upon those who would prefer to be asleep by that time.
I have no doubt that scheduling and organizing classes is a difficult task for the administration. However, given the findings of scientific research as well as general student sentiment, I feel that Siena’s administration should consider implementing these scheduling changes so no mandatory classes can create scheduling dread during registration season and into future semesters.