Some Tennessee Colleges Return to Virtual Classes To Counter Soaring Gas Prices

In an attempt to offer students a little relief from the pain at the pump, some colleges in Tennessee are returning to virtual classes.

Basic Economics - Supply & Demand

During the pandemic shutdowns, we saw a dramatic and drastic decline in the price at the pump when fueling our vehicles. Supply was high and demand was low as most people were staying home more.

The Return to 'Normal' Means Higher Prices

Since day-to-day life has begun to return to normal, we have seen basic economics play out with demand increasing once again as more and more businesses reopened, and people began returning to work and leisure activities. With that increase in demand, we have since seen the prices start creeping back up all across the country.

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Feeling It Locally Too

Personally, I have a discount box store membership that I use to purchase my gasoline and while it doesn't create drastic savings, it is usually enough to make the pain of filling my car with the premium-grade gasoline that it requires a little more bearable. However, a recent fill-up left me dumbfounded when I rolled up to the pump with less than 50 miles to empty and it cost me $74.95 to fill my car. Premium was $5.18 a gallon.

No End in Sight for Rising Prices at the Pump

Gas prices continue to rise and according to CNN, there doesn't appear to be any end in sight, citing the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as a major contributing factor to the surge.

It was back in March that prices first broke the record of $4.11 a gallon, which had stood since 2008. That now seems like the good old days: The national average has been rising steadily for the past month, setting 27 records in the last 28 days.
More than one out of every five gas stations nationwide is now charging more than $5 a gallon for regular, and just more than half are charging $4.75.

With Summer Here, Prices Are Expected to Stay High

Forbes points out that with the summer travel season here, the cost of gas isn't expected to go down anytime soon.

Summer travel season is here and Americans are on the move—but they face continued agony at the pump.

The national average price of gas is now a record $4.71 per gallon, according to AAA, an increase of more than 50 cents from just a month ago.

And for the first time in history, every state has an average gas price above $4 per gallon, according to AAA data.

 

How to Minimize the Pain at the Pump

So how do we minimize the pain at the pump? You may already be reducing the number of non-necessary trips in the car or you maybe you're considering making use of public transportation. In Tennessee, Southwest Tennessee Community College is hoping they can help students by returning to online virtual learning.

Back to the Digital Age

Southwest Tennessee Community College announced that through the summer months, they will be returning to online virtual learning one day a week. For now, the college will be holding Friday classes online in an attempt to help students and faculty conserve gasoline.

We welcomed spring semester with a return to on-campus operations however we now face economic inflation nationwide and gas prices are surging. To lessen the pain at the pump for students and employees during summer, Southwest will move to Virtual Fridays effective May 27, 2022 - August 12, 2022. During this time period, all classes and operations will be virtual with the exception of our campus child care centers

Is This A New Age?

Will we see more businesses and schools return to a virtual world as prices for gas, food, and consumer goods continue to stay rise? I really can't say but I think most of us can agree that "living through unprecedented times" is getting really exhausting. Unfortunately, right now there doesn't appear to be an end in sight.