By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

Some college towns plan to challenge 2020 census results, saying they were wronged because the pandemic forced students off campuses and complaining the undercount could cost them money and prestige federal.

University communities such as Bloomington, Indiana; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and State College, Pennsylvania are exploring their options for challenging population figures, which they say do not accurately reflect how many people live there.

When the pandemic hit the United States around Spring Break 2020, it sparked an exodus in college towns as classrooms went virtual almost overnight. The sudden departure of tens of thousands of students from these communities made it difficult to count them during the census, which began almost at the same time.

Because universities were able to provide the Census Bureau with records of students living in dormitories and other on-campus accommodation, off-campus students “risked being missed,” said sociology professor Dudley Poston. at Texas A&M University.

An Associated Press review of 75 metro areas with the highest share of residents between the ages of 20 and 24 showed that census results fell well below population estimates in some cases, but also exceeded them significantly in others.

University town officials aren’t sure why there was such variation, and they’re investigating whether it was due to the timing of spring break, outreach efforts, or the percentage of students living on campus versus off. . Another variable is whether schools cooperated when the Census Bureau requested records of off-campus students. Only about half of the schools did so, as many had privacy concerns or did not have the requested information.

“You can go crazy thinking about the variations,” said Douglas Shontz, spokesman for the Borough of State College, home of Penn State University, where officials believe the census missed 4,000 to 5,800 residents.

The AP review showed population numbers were lower than estimates by about 5% to 7% in Mount Pleasant, Michigan; Greenville, North Carolina; and Bloomington, Indiana, metropolitan areas, home to Central Michigan University, Eastern Carolina University, and Indiana University, respectively.

“It’s just not a believable number,” Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton said. “The simplest explanation is that the count was made after the university told students, ‘Don’t go back to Bloomington and go back to your parents.’ I don’t blame anyone. The university did what it had to do to protect its students.

Counting university students has always been a difficult task, even before the pandemic. The Census Bureau’s rule of thumb was that students should be counted at their college address, even if the coronavirus temporarily sent them elsewhere on the April 1 date that provides a benchmark for the census.

At State College, home to Penn State’s 39,000 students, the office’s pre-pandemic message was that people should be counted ‘where they sleep most of the time’, confusing students after returning home . As a result, student-dominated neighborhoods had the lowest census response rates in the borough, State College borough superintendent Tom Fountaine said in a memo to city officials.

Some metro areas such as Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Huntsville, Texas had census numbers 6% higher than their estimates, according to the AP review. The cities are home to the University of Alabama and Sam Houston State University respectively.

Even so, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox believes thousands of off-campus students have been overlooked, and the city plans to challenge the numbers. The 2020 tally puts the city at 400 people short of 100,000 people, which could cost it access to some federal funding that is only available to cities with 100,000 or more people.

“In terms of economic development, the perception of being above 100,000 has a greater psychological impact on your recruitment and development,” Maddox said.

Cities, states and tribal nations can start challenging their numbers in January through the bureau’s Count Question Resolution program, but it only considers miscalculations, such as an overlooked housing unit or incorrect boundaries. . The program only revises the numbers used for population estimates over the next decade that help determine federal funding. The Census Bureau will not revise the numbers used to determine how many congressional seats each state gets or the redistricting data used to draw congressional and legislative districts.

“While we anticipate more cases due to the many challenges faced by the 2020 census, scope will be limited and data products will be limited,” Census Bureau official Matthew Frates told Texas Demographers and Economists. during a presentation. last summer.

There have been victories in the past, such as the City of Houston’s effort to grow its population from 2.09 million to 2.1 million after the 2010 census. The change sparked the addition of two seats on the city council.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle, but it’s worth the try,” Shontz said at State College.

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