You might be living at home or somewhere besides where you’ve spent the majority of the year in Boulder due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but don’t let your temporary living arrangements keep you from participating in Census 2020. By being counted, you can help support services provided to the CU Boulder and Boulder communities.
The address you use when you complete the census survey matters because it impacts how billions of dollars in federal funding is distributed to Boulder and our local community for services that we all rely on. At CU Boulder, that includes campus safety efforts, wellness and mental health services and Pell Grants. In the broader community, that includes things like public transit, emergency response and management (like COVID-19 response), school lunches and grants for educational agencies.
As a CU Boulder student, you have lived for most of the year in Boulder, Colorado, and should participate as a Boulder resident, regardless of your current living arrangements. Following are a few guidelines for students who live on and off campus.
On-campus residents—your job is easy
Students who normally live in residence halls or campus housing—but have left campus to move home due to COVID-19—do not need to complete the census survey. CU Boulder Community Living staff are working with the Census Bureau to count you.
Off-campus residents
Students who normally live in a non-CU-owned apartment or house, alone or with roommates, should complete the Census 2020 survey as a household and can do so now. You should receive an invitation in the mail to participate in the census—and you can do so in one of three ways: online (preferred), by phone or by mail.
Whatever method you choose, be sure to use your normal address—where you usually live while you are enrolled as a student at CU Boulder.
Your survey response should include everyone else who normally lives in your household. If you are not sure about your roommate’s information or can’t verify whether your roommate has already responded—please respond for the entire household to the best of your ability. The Census Bureau has tools to avoid duplicate responses and would rather do that than miss you or your roommate entirely.
If you are not in Boulder now to retrieve your mail, you can still respond to an online survey by visiting 2020census.gov. It’s easy and typically takes about 10 minutes.
Other important information
International and undocumented students should be counted at their on- or off-campus residences as described above. Federal law protects census responses, and they can only be used to produce statistics.
All students should inform their parents not to count them in their survey unless they live with their parents for most of the year.
Learn more about Census 2020 at CU Boulder and why it is important to make sure your voice is heard.
