Every household in the United States is expected to fill out the 2020 Census, and UTRGV’s Complete Count Committee encourages students and the community to complete the questionnaire.
The census is conducted every 10 years and is a reliable way the government keeps a record of how many people live in a certain area. According to www.2020census.gov, the count is mandated by the Constitution. The 2020 Census will mark the 24th time that the United States has counted its population since 1790.
“Our region is growing. … Ten years ago, we were one of the most undercounted areas in the whole country,” said Veronica de la Garza, director of Governmental Relations at UTRGV and chair of the Complete Count Committee. “This really impacts every aspect of our lives and impacts the funding that comes to the [Rio Grande] Valley for transportation, for infrastructure.”
The census gives important information that is used to provide services and support to the community. Every year, federal funding is allocated for the building of schools, roads and hospitals.
Between March 12 and 20, every home was sent a request to answer a small questionnaire. The survey can be answered online, by phone or mail. All answers provided to the census will remain confidential.
Jennifer McGehee-Valdez, director of Public Relations at UTRGV, serves on the Complete Count Committee with De la Garza. She said students should focus on completing the census because it will impact their academic life.
“It impacts Pell Grants, financial aid and post-secondary education costs,” McGehee-Valdez said. “It’s important for students to actually respond to the census. … Students get benefits from student loans and campus [gets] funding, and some of that is for new buildings, labs, classrooms.”
Federal funds given to states are based on the population totals and the breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors. Communities get the most benefits when the census has an accurate count of everyone in the community. According to the U.S. Census Bureau web page, responding to the census helps communities receive their fair share of more than $625 billion per year in federal funds for hospitals, roads, schools, and other public and vital programs.
The census also affects representation in the House of Representatives. Based on the result of the state population counts, the seats on the U.S. House of Representatives are divided accordingly so they can correctly be apportioned among the states.
For more information or to fill out the 2020 Census, visit www.2020census.gov.
