Boston joining other college towns with census challenge

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

Boston is planning to challenge the results of the 2020 Census. The city says the once-a-decade head count undercounted university students. Mayor Kim Janey said in a letter to the Census Bureau that the city estimates about 5,000 college students were missed, along with 500 jail inmates and many foreign-born residents. The city is home to Boston University, Northeastern University, Suffolk University and the University of Massachusetts Boston. The coronavirus pandemic set off an exodus from college towns last year as classrooms went virtual, temporarily removing them from their college addresses where they should have been counted. Other college towns across the U.S. are preparing similar challenges.