Additionally, if the B-CS metro area exceeds 200,000 residents it will become a Transportation Management Area. The classification could mean the Brazos County would gain an additional $4 million annually for transportation projects.

While Brazos County’s population was more than 194,000 in the 2010 census, with the urban area adding up 171,345, Rudge said the Blinn College and Texas A&M University student body was undercounted by about 20 percent.

Rudge said students frequently fill out the census information incorrectly or do not file at all. Anyone who is living on campus is automatically counted in the census through information that the university shares with the bureau. However, students living off campus must fill out their form noting where they live on April 1, not their hometown.

Since there are large areas in B-CS that do not file, canvassers will go out to knock on doors and try to get data starting in June. By this time, most students have already left for the summer and cannot fill out the form.

Rudge said he is collaborating with A&M’s student leaders who can help inform their peers about the census.