NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Student, mother and day care director Arline Linger said signing up for online classes through Charter Oak State College is the smartest choice she’s ever made.

She said she’s able to take classes whenever she wants, even after work.

“It's a lot more economical to do my online courses than to drive a great distance from Colchester to New Britain,” she said.

Ed Klonoski, a representative of Charter Oak, Connecticut’s public online college, said that enrollment has gone up as gas prizes have skyrocketed. While enrollment is up 23 percent at Charter Oak, he said, it’s only up 10 percent nationally.

“I think we're sort of in a perfect storm as people begin to realize that the act of moving from point A to point B not only consumes time, but consumes family resources,” said Klonoski.

To illustrate that point, people at the State University of New York created an online calculator so prospective online students can see how much they could save on mileage, gas and time.

“We want to do a link right to their cost calculator, because they're right on,” he said.

And while officials at some schools said it's too early to tell if there is a correlation between gas prices and enrollment, Klonoski said Charter Oak's already adding new courses, preparing for online learning to be an even bigger industry than it already is.

“We think we're on the right side of history,” he said.

Arline said she’s preparing for bigger and better things as well.

“Who knows how far I'll take it, if I'll go even farther to my master's degree,” she said.

To use the SUNY cost calculator, click here.