This toolkit offers resources to help inform student journalists covering the 2020 Census as well as students participating in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) 2020 Bateman Case Study Competition. The Bateman Case Study Competition challenges teams of students to research, plan, implement, and evaluate a public relations campaign about the 2020 Census and to communicate how people can shape their future by responding to the 2020 Census.

Within this toolkit, you will learn:

• What the census is and why it is important.
• How census results determine political representation and shape decisions about spending for community services.
• How college students are counted in the census.
• How the census affects college students and their surrounding communities.
• What resources are available on the census.

The 2020 Census counts every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories—once, only once, and in the right place, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The census is conducted every 10 years by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data collected by the census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.

Your response to the 2020 Census is important because it helps ensure that more than $675 billion in federal funds is directed to the right places to support education, roads, health care, firefighting, and more, each year. Many decisions about where and how to allocate funding are based on census data.

See below for a variety of resources you may find helpful.

The Census Bureau and PRSSA have developed resources to aid student teams participating in the 2020 Bateman Case Study Competition.

For specific 2020 Census resources and an overview on why the census is important, check out the following:

• 2020 Census: What is the Census?
• 2020 Census Press Kit.
• Census.gov Newsroom.
• 2020census.gov.
• Partners Page.
• Outreach Materials.

To develop a greater understanding of how responses to census data affect local communities, use the tools below to understand the needs of your community and how your community will be counted in the 2020 Census:

• 2020 Census: Type of Enumeration Area (TEA) Viewer: An interactive map application that shows how different geographic areas will be invited to respond to the 2020 Census. This will allow students to learn how their specific college community will be asked to respond to the census and help communicate the value of participating.
• Data.census.gov: A new platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. Students can find the data they need in one centralized place.
• Population and Housing Unit Estimates: A page featuring all the files containing population counts for the nation, states, city and town, counties, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, Puerto Rico and housing units. This information will help students learn about the makeup of their communities.
• Response Outreach Area Mapper (ROAM): An application developed to make it easier to identify hard-to-survey areas and to provide a socioeconomic and demographic characteristic profile of these areas using American Community Survey (ACS) estimates. This application will help students as they prepare to develop a campaign on how to best reach out to their hard-to-count audience to participate in the 2020 Census.

Relevant materials on hard-to-count groups Bateman Competition teams may target for their campaigns.

• 2020 Census Barriers, Attitudes and Motivators Study (CBAMS): Research the Census Bureau conducted in support of the 2020 Census Integrated Partnership and Communications Program. Results allow the Census Bureau to understand and compare barriers, attitudes, and motivators across demographic subgroups such as Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, and, given sufficient sample size, additional groups like income and education levels.
• Counting Renters Fact Sheet.
• Residence Criteria Brochure.
• Counting Young Children.
• Young Children FAQ.
• Counting Young Children Fact Sheet.
• African American Data Links.
• Hispanic Origin.

• Five Ways the Census Can Shape the Future for 2020 Grads
• America Counts Story: Counting College Students in the 2020 Census
• 2020 Census Electronic press kits on a variety of topics related to the 2020 Census.
• As new resources become available, they will be posted to the 2020census.gov and/or census.gov websites.

A Complete Count Committee (CCC) is a group of local government and community leaders who help develop and implement a 2020 Census awareness campaign, based on their local community, to encourage response. Members of your community can contact your local CCC and work with community influencers to spread localized messaging that resonates with the population in their area.

Stay up to date on the 2020 Census by following the Census Bureau on social media channels:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Have questions? Visit ask.census.gov to find answers to frequently asked questions.