Many local college students are ditching wild spring flings in Mexico or the Caribbean this year and sticking closer to home.

Though they may not have jobs to lose, the economic downturn is still putting a damper on many students’ spring break plans.

“I don’t really have any plans to go outside the country because it’s a little bit too expensive right now,” said Nicole Roberts, 27, a graduate film student in at Columbia University.

“I don’t know that I’d be able to rest knowing that I’m incurring all these bills,” she said, adding that school was expensive enough without splurging on extravagant spring break trips.

Man-yu Moy, 19, a Columbia biology undergraduate, said he would just go home to Massachusetts, with nothing big planned. “I might go skiing,” he said.

Work to Do

“I think most people are sticking around,” said Arielle Benay, 20, a media undergraduate at Hunter College. Benay said it’s not worth the money for her to travel somewhere far away.

“Besides, over spring break you always have work anyway,” she said.

Even when the students plan to go away, they aren’t necessarily heading to where the best party is, but where they can get the most bang for their buck.

“I’ve noticed a lot of people coming in and saying, ‘We just want to go somewhere warm and cheap.’ They don’t even care what destination, they just want to know what is the cheapest,” said Kate Taylor, a travel advisor for STA Travel on Broadway in Morningside Heights.

“More and more people are asking about the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, two destinations that tend to be on the cheaper side,” she added.

On the Road Again

Road trips and domestic travel also are becoming popular again as the gas prices have leveled off, reports Youthmarketing.com.

Karin Oberlin, 32, plans to spend her spring break on the road, driving to South Carolina with a friend. “We’re on a student budget,” the Columbia University Law School student said.

Oberlin said most of her friends planned to stay in the city during the break, or visit popular U.S. destinations, such as California, Las Vegas and Florida.

The current trend may mean that drinking fests could give way to more meaningful spring breaks.

“As people’s budgets grow tighter, they are thinking more and more about why they are traveling and what they would like to gain from their travels,” said Yung Mei Choi, branch manager of STA Travel in the East Village.

Soaking up Culture

Choi said that while beach vacations are decreasing in popularity, cultural experience trips are gaining ground among students.

“While budget is always a top priority, the experience carries more weight for our clients,” she said.

But for some students, like Roberts, who plans to stay at home, just being free of school assignments is enough of a spring break experience.

“My reward is to not work,” she said.