Gas prices have reached record highs since 2024— and analysts warn they may continue climbing.
With spring break road trips and summer travel approaching, the financial strain is weighing heavily on college students already managing tuition and living expenses.
One week after the United States launched strikes on Iran, the national average price for regular gasoline rose by 49 cents, marking the largest weekly increase in over a century. The statewide average for California is now at $5.29 while the national average stands at $3.53 per gallon, compared with the typical average of about $3.08 last year.
For Dani Johns, a graduate student studying public relations and advertising, the jump in gas prices was immediately noticeable.
“I had to put gas in my car the other day and I was so annoyed,” Johns said. “In 2021, I would fill up my whole tank and it would be $35 every week. I have a very small car. I got gas on Sunday night and it was $55 at the exact same place. I was like, ‘What is happening?’”
Higher oil prices are also driving up jet fuel costs. Qantas has announced fare increases on international routes, while Scandinavian Airlines confirmed a “temporary pricing adjustment.”
Research from travel industry outlet Skift estimates U.S. airlines could face up to $24 billion in additional jet fuel costs, potentially forcing airfare increases of at least 11% in the coming months.
When told airfare may also increase, Johns said the timing could not be worse.
“I was actually going to buy a flight coming up soon, so it’s two hits in one,” she said. “Flight tickets are already so expensive, I can’t imagine them going up even more. It sucks.”
The spike follows rising global oil prices as tensions in the Middle East disrupt production and shipping. Oil prices have jumped from $92 to $120 per barrel, well above the projected $88 per barrel for 2026.
Waylon Tang, a graduate student studying aerospace and engineering management, commutes to campus daily and said the increases are hard to ignore.
“Every week when I get gas — I usually go to Costco because it’s the cheapest, but even there it’s been around $4.90 recently, which is a lot,” Tang said.
Tang said higher fuel costs can make commuting unaffordable for working students and families.
“If they have to take more out of their savings just to pay for gas to get to work, it ruins the quality of living for everything else,” he said.
Tang added that he recently applied for food assistance and is still awaiting approval. He also chose not to purchase a plane ticket home for spring break after seeing airfare prices.
Gasoline is not the only cost expected to rise.
Erin Woo, a freshman studying public relations and advertising, said rising costs add to broader concerns about entering the workforce.
“It’s concerning thinking about how everything just seems so expensive to live in general,” Woo said.
Woo shares a car with her father and said she limits trips home to conserve gas.
“I try not to go home as often because I feel like I’m wasting gas,” she said. “He’s the one paying for everything and I don’t have a job.”
While students are feeling the impact, they are not alone. Small business owners, parents and working-class Americans nationwide are facing rising costs for essential goods and services.
For many households, the increase is more than an inconvenience — it is a question of affordability.
As oil markets remain unstable, analysts warn that Americans should prepare for continued price pressures beyond gasoline in the months ahead.