Topeka ? Kansas continues to go it alone in counting students to adjust the census figures. And it costs the state nearly $650,000

Under the Kansas Constitution and state law, the secretary of state’s office must conduct a census of students enrolled at all public and private universities or colleges in the Kansas.

The law requires that college students be counted every 10 years in conjunction with the federal census.

Students who are determined to be temporary residents are statistically returned to their permanent homes in other communities.

Abbie Hodgson, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, says that to her knowledge Kansas is the only state that goes through this procedure.

The end result is that university communities, such as Lawrence, lose some population in the census count. Census totals are used for purposes of reapportioning legislative, State Board of Education and congressional districts.

“It’s important that students complete the census adjustment form so that they are counted in their hometowns during redistricting,” Secretary of State Chris Biggs said.

“We’re in the process of reaching out to college students with errors on their forms to ensure that we have complete and accurate information,” Biggs said.

As of June 1, the secretary of state’s office had received more than 100,000 responses and of the 25,000 responses that have been reviewed approximately 30 percent had errors requiring a follow-up phone call.