In anticipation of the forthcoming 2030 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau is partnering with AACRAO to help inform and improve the bureau's data collection process and minimize any undue burdens for stakeholders.
The U.S. Census count is critical for determining representation and the allocations of federally funded programs, including those in higher education. Historically, certain groups of people have been disproportionately undercounted by the Census. The
Census Bureau identifies all college students as a hard-to-count population because they are highly mobile, may live off-campus as renters, and are often difficult to persuade to participate.
The 2020 Census
Because of COVID-19, many students were sent home during the spring of 2020. They were not living in student housing at the time when the Census Bureau started its outreach to institutions of higher education. In previous years, college/university contact
persons mainly selected methods that allow students to self-respond. However, due to COVID-19, other individuals, such as registrars and other administrative personnel, had to provide information to the bureau on behalf of the students using administrative
records, complicating the process.
AACRAO hosted a listening session with representatives from the Census Bureau and distributed an online survey earlier this year to solicit feedback on the process or processes that institutions
used to provide information for the 2020 Census count to learn specific concerns and issues, as well as successes.
Get Involved
To continue that process, AACRAO and the Census Bureau are looking to have AACRAO members join a working group to further explore issues impacting institutions and their group quarters enumeration processes. Those interested in this project should email William Gil at gilw@aacrao.org or Michelle Mott at mottm@aacrao.org. AACRAO will host a kick-off meeting
at the end of October with interested members and Census Bureau representatives.
A Message from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Proposed Working Group:
The United States Census Bureau's Outreach and External Stakeholder Engagement project team would like to thank members of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) for sharing feedback on the 2020 Census Group Quarters Operations Lessons Learned Survey. Your feedback will serve as a valuable resource to enhance the group quarters data collection experience, externally and internally for decennial operations
and surveys, as we look forward to the 2030 Decennial Census.
Outreach involves initiating partnerships to engage external stakeholders throughout the decennial planning cycle to enhance all aspects of group quarters and other living quarters operations leading towards small-scale tests scheduled in 2025-2026, 2028
Dress Rehearsal, and the 2030 Census. The Census Bureau looks forward to a working partnership with members of AACRAO to help meet several critical goals and objectives that include:
Working with external stakeholders to establish criteria for participating in the Census Bureau's Decennial Census and surveys, especially those with privacy laws. For example, establishing an agreement with the Department of Education that will
allow all institutions the ability to provide specific data elements to the Census Bureau.
Gaining a better understanding of state and federal laws that affect both demographic and address data that GQ administrators collect from their residents and the specific demographic data they can legally provide to the Census Bureau. This will
help explore alternative methods to obtain required demographic and address data in situations where there have been roadblocks.
Exploring other self-response alternatives, such as Internet Self-Response, for GQ residents that would support the collection of quality data.
Stay up-to-date with AACRAO's efforts by visiting the AACRAO Advocacy page, here you'll find the latest policy news, public
policy issues affecting AACRAO members, and more.