When Kenroy Mejia was a senior at Bonnabel High School in Metairie last year, the honor-roll student had his choice of universities across the state.

But he settled on Delgado Community College, a two-year institution in New Orleans where he had taken a few dual enrollment courses during high school. He decided that he could commute from Metairie for a couple years, saving a lot of money on tuition and expenses, then transfer to a four-year university with college credits and work experience under his belt.

“I’m an accounting major,” he said recently. “I kind of did the math.”

Delgado administrators hope more students like Mejia will come to a similar conclusion.

Community colleges, which generally admit any eligible students who apply, have long enrolled a population that is older

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