Pete J. Greenwoods used to drive more than 35 miles round-trip, and taking more than three hours due to traffic jams just to take education classes at the University of Los Angeles in California.

Then one day, a friend on FaceBook told him he could take the same classes from home and save a lot of money on fuel costs and traffic jam headaches.

“I put more than $100.00 worth of gas in my car every other week!” said Pete, 35, who lives in the San Fernando Valley. “Just two years ago, I could fill my car with $45.00 worth of gas that would take me more than two weeks.”

Pete joins a large and growing number of Americans trying to save money on gas by taking online education.

Online enrollment has been steadily growing for years, but many college administrators now say that the spike in gas prices — to more than $4 a gallon in most places — has fueled a surge in students seeking classes without the cost of commuting.

And although most schools which offer online education do not track students’ reasons for choosing to take classes online, most administrators cite a clear link with fuel prices.

In a typical online classroom situation, students log on at their convenience for classes. The classes are done mostly through independent study and the students and professors interact via IM messages, forums and of course, e-mail.

There are other classes that are more traditional, with a mix of both students attending in person as well as online. The students in the classroom physically can also speak to their online classmates using microphones, and the students online can watch lectures through cameras.

“Certainly the gas prices have been a major catalyst in pushing more people to change their thinking about their education,” says 23 year old Mary, a single mom from Westwood, CA. “You can now learn anytime, anywhere, on your schedule. It doesn’t mean that the quality of education lowers just because you take it online.”

Due to this rising interest, many colleges are now preparing to increase their online education class capacity for the future and the increased demand for online classes is also forcing skeptical instructors to overcome any reservations they might have about the system.

With the money they save on gas, most people taking online classes are now able to put more food on the table and catch up with bills, thereby increasing their quality of life.

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