University entrance is considered a milestone in the lives of many young people. However, it constitutes a stressful experience, which contributes to the emergence of unhealthy habits and may interfere with the expression of the sleep/wake cycle (SWC). These changes in the SWC may have consequences on the physical, mental and social health of these young people's lives. In addition, the living conditions of individuals and groups of the population can also lead to the occurrence of health problems and their risk factors in the population, being defined as Social Determinants of Health (SDH). Based on these determinants, the aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness in undergraduate students from a countryside of Rio Grande do Norte, based in the Solar and Irwin model of DSS. This model is currently used by the World Health Organization as a basis for discussions and planning of policies and actions in this area. A total of 306 students participated in the research, they were enrolled at the Health Sciences School (FACISA), located in Santa Cruz in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN). Data collection was performed through 4 self-administered questionnaires: “Health and sleep”; Munique Chronotype Questionnaire; Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and Poisson regression. However, only structural and intermediate determinants of health with a significance level of 0.20 or less were inserted in the Poisson regression model. Most participants were female (73.2%), younger than 20 years old (57.2%), not working (91.5%) and moving to the city where they study (82.8%). The prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness was 51.3% and poor sleep quality was 79.7%. Among the intermediate determinants of health, it was observed that 23.5% perform academic demand before bedtime in the week (p = 0.061) and 16% perform academic demand as a reason for waking up at the weekend (p = 0.007) which was associated with reduced daytime sleepiness. The performance of these behaviors was considered protective for health in the multivariate analysis. Regarding intermediate determinants, an association was found between being under 20 years old (p = 0.063), having a health problem in the last month (p = 0.002), using stimulant drinks (p = 0.001) and alcoholic beverages. (p = 0.049), report academic demand as reason for waking up during the week (p = 0.114), make use of electronics before bedtime during the week (p = 0.010), perform household chores before bedtime during the week (p = 0.106) and having leisure activities before bed during the week (p = 0.123) and weekend (p = 0.166) with poor sleep quality. In the Poisson regression, only the factors: having a health problem in the last month (p = 0.004) and making use of stimulant drinks (0.001) were considered risk factors for poor sleep quality. Therefore, there is a high prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality in this population. It is also concluded that some behaviors may be considered protective in relation to daytime sleepiness and may be considered risky in relation to poor sleep quality. The protective character in relation to daytime sleepiness may be due to a possible regularity in the CSV between week and weekend. It is also noteworthy that both protective and risk behaviors are performed by a small portion of the sample.