Students in tertiary institutions are confronted with challenges such as agonising traffic situations, awful electricity supply, inadequate learning environments, dilapidated equipment and other excruciating academic challenges. These challenges could eventually lead to strained relationship, withdrawal and in most cases stress. This study therefore, examined effects of laughter therapy on the management of academic stress among students in Lagos State tertiary institutions. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design.  The sample for this study consisted of 105 students drawn from two Lagos State tertiary institutions using Multistage sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self-designed, 20-item questionnaire titled:  “Stress Assessment Scale” (SAS). The instrument was validated by three experts in the field of psychometrics and its reliability coefficient obtained through the Cronbach Alpha reliability stood at 0.85. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The researcher conducted an eight week treatment sessions for participants in the experimental group and their pretest and posttest scores were obtained. Data obtained from the instrument was analyzed using percentages, mean, standard deviation and ANCOVA. The first hypothesis was rejected while the second was not rejected. Results showed that laughter therapy has significant effect in reducing academic stress among students and that the reduction is not  age-based.  Therefore, there is need for authorities in tertiary institutions to establish functional counselling centres with qualified counsellors would always use laughter therapy in remediating incidence of academic stress among students.