Students attending the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities should be sure they are counted in the 2010 Census so Minnesota can receive its fair share of federal dollars for the next 10 years, Chancellor James H. McCormick said.
"All undergraduate and graduate students, including foreign students who live in Minnesota, should be counted," McCormick said. "Historically, college students have been hard for the census to track."
Census data affect funding for tuition grant and loan programs as well as other critical services offered by the system's colleges and universities and their campus communities. Overall, the allocation of more than $400 billion a year in federal funds is affected by census data.
Required by the Constitution, the U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States every 10 years. Data collected by the census also help determine the number of seats that Minnesota has in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Census questionnaires will be delivered or mailed to students who live off campus in March 2010. Students who live on campus will receive individual questionnaires in April and May.
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Census takers will distribute and collect these questionnaires. Students who attend the 32 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities should complete forms based on their student addresses, even if they are not living with their parents or they are not permanent Minnesota residents.
The Census Bureau conducts counts of people where they live and sleep most of the year.
The 10-question form is expected to take 10 minutes for students to complete. Every resident is required to be counted.
For more information, http://2010.census.gov/campus/pdf/FAQ_CensusOnCampus.pdf .
