A freshman living on campus in student housing. A junior varsity athlete sharing an off-campus house with teammates. A senior living solo in an off-campus apartment.

Even though many residents of a typical American college town might move away after they graduate, they have to be counted while they live there. 

College towns across the country depend on students’ responses to the census. The reason: Census results help determine how much federal funding communities will receive over the next 10 years.

“Young college students may be going off on their own for the first time, and when they see a postcard or a census worker and are asked to take the census, they may not understand that they’re supposed to take it where they’re living.” 

— Evan Curtis, state planning coordinator and co-chair of the Utah Complete Count Committee

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