Pre-Karina, Delgado Community College had 17,000 students; this year that number is more than 19,000. Another NOLA school, Nunez Community College, is also at enrollment levels higher than pre-Katrina. That growth mirror national trends, but comes - another national trend - at a time of less state funding, in schools which do not cover all expenses just from tuition.

Delgado has space issues. It is also in talks with the State University of New Orleans and the University of New Orleans, regarding articulation and integration of services.

The commentary following this article, from local citizens, is worth a read. For example:

I'm glad to see Delgado is finally being noticed for the tremendous asset it is for this community. So many students coming out of the public school system are ill-prepared for university coursework, and neither are they suited for employment. Delgado is doing double duty in helping kids brush up on their academics before entering 4-year schools and also providing adults with training and education for careers (or second careers). No other institution is capable of doing this. And, not everyone needs to go through a 4-year program! Funding for Delgado is essential to their continued ability to serve our needs.

This is an excellent resource for emergency, disaster, mitigation and other planners when they need to project beyond physical campus damage from major catastrophes. Institutions in the New Orleans area are still recovering five years after Katrina. This Chronicle of Higher Education article by Katherine Mangan includes a clickable map showing the location of 8 of the affected campuses, along with enrollment, damage, and recovery statistics. Apparently, on most campuses you can no longer see so much physical damage, but recovery in a financial sense, in a student enrollment sense, and in regaining faculty and staff expertise is slower.