Survey suggests coffee consumption causes lower GPAs

By: Louisa Woltermann
Twitter: @louisa_wolt
Email: woltermannl@findlay.edu

The cup of coffee that students drink in order to stay awake and alert throughout the day may actually be causing their grade point averages (GPAs) to drop.
Best Mattress Brand discovered this potential drop in GPA after conducting a survey of over 1000 college students.
Best Mattress Brand explains that the caffeine within coffee does give students a rush of energy, but it also could prevent the students from receiving a good night’s sleep. This absence of a proper night’s sleep could then negatively impact the student’s GPA.
Within the survey, one of the questions asked students how many cups of coffee they were consuming daily. This amount was then compared to each student’s GPA. Best Mattress Brand then determined that, on average, a student’s GPA lowered with the increase in coffee consumption.
The results showed that current college students who drink zero cups of coffee daily averaged a 3.43 GPA while students who drink five or more cups of coffee daily averaged a 3.28 GPA. Those students who drank one to four cups of coffee averaged GPAs ranging from 3.38 to 3.41.
Every morning, approximately 40 cups of coffee are sold from Jazzman’s at the University of Findlay. The most common time for students and faculty members to get coffee is in between classes. The café also experiences busy times around 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m..
Makala Haines, an avid coffee drinker, says she drinks two to four cups of coffee daily. Haines disagrees with the claims that coffee negatively affects her GPA.
“Coffee gives me life,” Haines said. “It’s the reason I can get up in the morning and my GPA thanks me for that.”
Chris Vermillion, registered nurse at the Cosiano Health Center, also shares her opinions as to whether or not coffee negatively affects GPAs.
“I am sure that everyone is effected differently by [their] amount of caffeine intake and how much it helps them wake up,” Vermillion said. “It is recommended that 400mg or less be consumed daily. That’s about 4 cups of coffee.”
Vermillion says that caffeine is a temporary fix for needing to wake up or remaining alert throughout the day. She believes that excessive intake can be more problematic than helpful. Vermillion states that if one’s caffeine intake is excessive and there is a need to cut back, then he or she should talk to his or her doctor.
For more information on Best Mattress Brand’s survey on coffee and its effects on GPA, go to www.bestmattress-brand.org/exchanging-zzzs-for-as.