MANKATO — From college students to refugees, the U.S. Census Bureau has a name for people who are difficult to count: “hard-to-enumerate” populations.

Public officials are making a push to get the word out about the 2010 Census and how important it is that everyone fill it out.

“Right now the message is the census is really important because it determines how much money your city or location will get,” said Murtaza Rajabali, president of the Minnesota State University’s student association.

Here’s the oft-cited fact: For every 100 Minnesotans who don’t fill out the 2010 Census form, the state will lose $1 million in federal funding over the next 10 years.

That’s $1,000 per person, per year.

College students have misconceptions about where they should list their residency, said Rajabali, who is working with a local committee to publicize the census.

If they live in the dorms or in Mankato during the school year, they should list Mankato as their home — not where their parents live.

The census will be mailed in mid-March.

For very different reasons, refugees and recent immigrants may be more difficult to count, as well. Some of them come from countries where a knock from a representative of the federal government is cause for alarm.

“In some of the situations they’ve come from, they’ve seen terrible things happen in that fashion,” said Bukata Hayes, executive director of the Greater Mankato Diversity Council. “They may have a skeptical outlook on being counted.”

Though almost all Minnesotans will receive a census questionnaire in English, there are ways for people who don’t speak the language to be counted.

For areas with a Latino population of more than 20 percent, bilingual forms will be mailed, said Barbara Ronningen, a state employee who is leading Minnesota’s census efforts.

In addition, the questionnaire is available in five languages by request — Russian, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish.

For people who speak other languages, the Census will set up assistance centers across the state, including in Mankato. Guides will be available in 59 languages.

The census, which is mandated by the United States Constitution, will be shorter this time around.

Here’s what it will ask: age, birthday, race, gender, ethnicity, how you’re related to the head of household, whether you own or rent the house, whether you live somewhere else part of the year and your name, address and phone number.

College students and others who live in group housing will be asked slightly different questions, naturally.

Ronningen said the census mails questionnaires to addresses, not individuals. It has worked with local governments to keep an accurate address list and sent its own workers to verify some of them.

If people don’t answer the first census questionnaire they will be mailed another. If that’s not answered, Census workers will call the home if they have a phone number. If that doesn’t work a Census worker will visit their home.