HSIs, Others Look to Census for Aid to Schools, Communities: For minority-serving colleges and their communities, the $787 billion economic stimulus package is not the only new funding game in town. Many also are focusing on the 2010 U.S. Census, with an eye toward ensuring accurate population counts so their communities can claim a fair share of education and other funds.
“Most of our colleges and universities are in communities with a high concentration of low-income residents,” says Dr. Antonio Flores, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) president. “If they benefit from the census, Hispanic-serving institutions benefit, too.”
The federal government conducts the census every 10 years to count everyone in the United States. But there are concerns that many low-income Americans and immigrants — both documented and undocumented — go uncounted.
“Last time in 2000, the census missed 3 million Americans and 1.4 million homes. Most of those who were missed were poor, and many were minorities,” says Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., a Congressional Black Caucus member and chairman of the House information and census subcommittee. “That is just not good enough.”
