Photo by Marty Caivano

Shana Ochsner, left, a nursing student at Front Range Community College who also works at the Boulder County campus, helps student Alissa Koehler with a financial aid question. Ochsner only is taking online courses this summer, which she said saves her $50 a week in gas expenses.

Shana Ochsher, a student at Front Range Community College, enrolled in all online courses this summer, a change that she calculates saves her a tank of gas every week.

“It was the most logical thing to do,” said Ochsher, who spends about $50 each time she fills up her Ford Taurus.

Skyrocketing prices at the pump could be fueling online enrollment increases at Colorado’s colleges and universities, school officials say. And Ochsher looks to be among an increasing number of cash-strapped college students who are opting for a virtual classroom over a commute.

“I think we’re all trying to figure out how to reduce our gas usage,” said Mike Kupcho, interim chief administrative officer for Front Range Community College.

While fuel is pricier elsewhere, the average gas price for the Boulder-Longmont area on Sunday tipped over the $4 a gallon mark for the first time ever, according to AAA, and it reached a new record high of $4.01 on Monday.

This summer, Front Range Community College — which has campuses in Westminster, Brighton and Boulder and Larimer counties — saw its total online enrollment surpass that of its Larimer County campus, which tends to have the system’s highest enrollment, Kupcho said. Last summer, there were 298 full-time students at the Larimer campus and 238 online. Now, there’s 320 online students and 285 commuting to the Larimer campus.

The community college also is seeing growing interest in “hybrid classes,” which blend online learning with classes and labs.

At the University of Colorado, enrollment in online and correspondence courses jumped 20 percent from last summer. This summer, there are 2,032 students taking those courses, said Geoff Rubinstein, director of independent learning. That compares to 1,700 last summer.

The university plans to take a poll of its summer learners to see whether the pain at the pump is among the reasons for the enrollment increase, said Anne Heinz, CU’s dean of continuing education.

“Our online enrollment has increased, and we don’t know if that’s a direct result of increased gas prices,” she said.

Colorado State University is launching a new online degree program — “Global Campus” — with classes beginning on Sept. 1. Rich Schweigert, the CEO of the program, said the $50 enrollment fee has been waived this month to help students cope with soaring gas prices.

“We decided to waive the fee and let students buy a tank of gas,” he said.

The tailored degree tracks differ from current online courses because of the focus on professional development. The program targets students who want to go back to school and complete their bachelor’s degrees, or pursue master’s degrees.

Nearly 200 students have signed up for the program. Schweigert said he expects the program will become popular as gas prices reach new highs.

“Anytime it gets this difficult to get to a campus, there’s an increased interest in online education,” he said.