Message from the WKU Vice President of Enrollment & Student Experience
Dear Students,
The 2020 Census work began this month, marking the 24th time our country has counted its population since 1790. From the way in which legislative districts are drawn and the number of seats allocated to each state in Congress to revising school district boundaries, funding fire departments and roads, locating businesses, and planning for hospitals and nursing homes, Census data infiltrates our lives in substantial ways – guiding how more than $675 billion in federal funding gets distributed each year.
The 2020 Census will be the first for most of you. The good news is for the first time, responses can be made online, making completion easier than ever before. Below is some important information to guide you through this process:
If you lived on campus for more than six months of the year, you will automatically be counted through WKU Housing & Residence Life. Therefore, you do not need to take action.
What if I am moving home due to the COVID-10 pandemic?
Even though we are in a transition of moving students out, the Census Bureau has clarified that colleges and universities are still considered the primary residences (students should be counted as living there).
Specifically, per the Census Bureau’s residence criteria, in most cases students living away from home at school should be counted at school, even if they are temporarily elsewhere due to the COVID-19 pandemic. View the full statement from the U.S. Census Bureau: https://2020census.gov/en/news-events/press-releases/statement-college-students.html.
If you live off campus, you need to respond to the Census. If you share an apartment or house with others, residents should work together to fill out one questionnaire per household, including everyone who lives in the household.
WKU has created a website, https://www.wku.edu/census/, to help guide you through this important process. We each have a constitutional responsibility to participate in this incredibly important count. If you have questions on how to accurately fill out your form, please visit www.2020census.gov or call the toll free number 844-330-2020.
Brian W. Kuster
Vice President for Enrollment and Student Experience
Executive Director, WKU Student Life Foundation, Inc.
1906 College Heights Blvd. #1021 | Bowling Green, KY 42101-1021
Tel: 270.745.2791 | Fax: 270.745.6582
Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.