AUGUSTA – Skyrocketing gas prices have forced Jami Childress to rethink everything about her college experience.

From how the 19-year-old sophomore picked her classes at Thomas College to what jobs she could take to pay for school, gas prices were always on her mind.

Childress, of Unity, said she has a 30-mile commute five days a week for her spring semester classes at Thomas in Waterville. The $30 a week spent on gas is already stretching her budget, which can’t absorb any more spikes in gas prices, she said.

This fall she’ll be going to Thomas only twice a week.

“I made sure all my classes were Tuesdays and Thursdays to avoid driving to school every day,” Childress said.

She said she also had to rethink what summer jobs to take because she couldn’t afford to fill up her gas tank.

“I worked for Kraft Foods, driving from Bangor to Waterville, and I couldn’t keep up with (the gas prices),” she said of her decision to leave the job early.

She said she had to take a weekend job as a cashier at a grocery store closer to home to make money during the school year.

“I also cut back on what I spend because I know that I’m going to have to pay more for gas,” Childress said.

In response to the many students with similar concerns about gas prices, area colleges have been adding online courses, carpooling networks and other programs.

Most of the 433 students who commute to Thomas College, nearly half the school’s total enrollment, are from within a 40-mile radius, according to Thomas Edwards, provost of the college. The college is working on a master plan to expand its campus and make other changes to give students more flexibility in scheduling, campus housing and other services, Edwards said in an email.

At the University of Maine in Augusta, officials are bracing for a drop in fall enrollment because some students can’t afford the commute, says Jonathan Henry, dean of enrollment services.

“We’re more concerned about fall, as the gas prices spike through the fall it may impact people’s decisions to enroll,” he said.

One student at UMA, 22-year-old Mike Zulu, is worried he may not be able to finish his college education without going deeper into debt.

He drives nearly 20 miles from Whitefield to get to class, costing him about $40 a week in gas.

“With the gas prices rising, if you want to get books all the extra money you had for that is going to gas,” he said. “You either have to take out more loans or sacrifice having a book for a semester.”

Zulu said he is looking for more money to return to school in the fall and finish his degree. He said he already mixes loans, scholarships and financial aid to pay for the $5,500 tuition.

Zulu lives with his parents, has a work-study job on campus and has little room in his budget for more gas money, he said.

“I’m trying to figure out what other loans are available so I can finish,” he said.

UMA has campuses in Augusta and Bangor and nine other learning sites across the state, but no dormitories. All of its more than 5,000 students commute to classes and most of them are also juggling jobs and family demands, Henry said.

“The average age is 31 and money is tight,” he said.

Henry said the college may offer more financial support if the price of gas continues to rise. It would involve adjusting financial aid programs based on the demand from students, who rely on college, state and federal money to pay for school, he said.

There are public buses that students and faculty are able to ride for free by showing their college ID, Henry said. The Kennebec Explorer buses are in the Greater Augusta area and the Bangor Area Transit buses run in Bangor.

Zulu said he is thinking about driving to Gardiner to reach the bus stop closest to his home. “It’s still a little ways out, but driving halfway and riding the (bus) the rest of the way could be an option,” he said.

Kennebec Valley Community College is launching a student information portal on its website, and a carpool network is one of the new online services because of the rising gas prices, according to Michelle Gayne, director of student development for the college.

This fall, students will be able to log onto the portal to make carpool plans by connecting with other students from their area. The online network will improve on past failed attempts to connect people who want to share rides to class, she said.