For the first time in a while, driving home for the weekend shouldn't cost a semester of tuition.

Gas prices around the nation have seen a decline of seven cents over the past month to a national average of $2.92, according to a report from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Even though it is a 32-cent hike from last year's prices, experts are speculating that prices could drop even lower, despite conflicts in the Middle East and the impending hurricane season.

"The situation [in Iran] being as unstable as it is will have a lot to do with gas prices," said Mark McLeod, an economics professor. "There are a lot of economics involved, but there are also a lot of politics involved."

Iran has threatened the United States and western nations with a possible blockage of oil exports if its nuclear program is met with continued hostility from the United Nations, according to an MSNBC report this week.

"A little bit of the paranoia has fallen," said Russell Chuderewicz, economics professor. "Iran is willing to talk now. Along with that, hurricane forecasters have come out with new forecasts, and the season isn't looking as bad as we thought it to be."

Hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, has clouded the guaranteed delivery of oil from the Gulf of Mexico with doubt.

Ernesto was only classified as a hurricane for a brief period of time before it hit Hispaniola, said Michael Mann, associate professor in the department of meteorology.

And had Ernesto steered into the Gulf Coast, there would have been an effect on the nation's oil supply, said Andrew Kleit, energy and environmental economics professor.

"It's hard to know how much of an impact it would have had," Kleit said. "What goes on is facilities are abandoned, and that reduces the production for an amount of time."

Despite the uncertain forecast, several other reports have offered the same optimistic views as those of AAA. The Energy Information Administration reported that gas prices fell an average of 7.9 cents last week to a national average of $2.85.

In the past two weeks, the price fell an additional 15.5 cents. The Web site www.gaspricewatch.com, which relies on citizen's submissions of their local station's prices, pegs the national average for unleaded gas to be $2.67.

Yesterday, geoscientists also discovered what may be the nation's largest oil discovery off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, The Associated Press reported.

The discovery, which could be the biggest domestic oil find in 38 years, won't have an immediate impact on prices at the pump. Production is years away, and even then it won't reverse America's growing reliance on imports.

"This summer, it wasn't a big deal because my internships didn't pay me anything, so my parents decided they would pay for my gas," said Loren Cicalese (junior-communication arts and sciences). "Now since I'm here, I'll be more watchful of where I go and I'll try to kill as many birds with one stone as I can each time I go out so I don't waste too much gas."

The Associated Press and MSNBC contributed to this report.