II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4281 

To establish a student loan forgiveness plan for certain borrowers who are 

employed at a qualified farm or ranch. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2024 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a student loan forgiveness plan for certain 

borrowers who are employed at a qualified farm or ranch. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Loan Forgive5 ness for Farmers and Ranchers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FARMERS AND RANCH7 ERS. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE HEA.—Part D of title IV 

9 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a 

10 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 460A. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FARMERS AND 

2 RANCHERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) QUALIFIED FARM OR RANCH.—In this section, 

4 the term ‘qualified farm or ranch’ means a farm or ranch 

5 with a farm number (within the meaning given the term 

6 in section 718.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, 

7 as in effect on the date of enactment of the Student Loan 

8 Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act). 

9 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall cancel the 

10 balance of interest and principal due, in accordance with 

11 subsection (c), on any eligible Federal Direct Loan not 

12 in default for a borrower who— 

13 ‘‘(1) at the time of initial entrance into the ag14 ricultural student loan forgiveness program— 

15 ‘‘(A) is— 

16 ‘‘(i) employed full-time or part-time as 

17 farmer or rancher with an AD–20347 form 

18 on file with the Department of Agriculture 

19 that is current on the date of the initial 

20 entrance; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) employed full-time or part-time 

22 as an employee or manager of a qualified 

23 farm or ranch; and 

24 ‘‘(B) is— 

25 ‘‘(i) a beginning farmer or rancher (as 

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1 solidated Farm and Rural Development 

2 Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a))); 

3 ‘‘(ii) an individual from a population 

4 that is underrepresented in the agricultural 

5 profession (as determined by the Sec6 retary), such as minorities or women; 

7 ‘‘(iii) a socially disadvantaged farmer 

8 or rancher (as defined in section 355(e) of 

9 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop10 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e))); or 

11 ‘‘(iv) a veteran farmer or rancher (as 

12 defined in section 2501(a) of the Food, 

13 Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 

14 of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a))); 

15 ‘‘(2) makes 120 monthly payments on the eligi16 ble Federal Direct Loan after the date of enactment 

17 of the Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and 

18 Ranchers Act, pursuant to any one or a combination 

19 of— 

20 ‘‘(A) payments under an income-based re21 payment plan under section 493C; 

22 ‘‘(B) payments under a standard repay23 ment plan under section 455(d)(1)(A), based on 

24 a 10-year repayment period; 


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1 ‘‘(C) monthly payments under a repayment 

2 plan under subsection (d)(1) or (g) of section 

3 455 of not less than the monthly amount cal4 culated under section 455(d)(1)(A), based on a 

5 10-year repayment period; or 

6 ‘‘(D) payments under an income contin7 gent repayment plan under section 

8 455(d)(1)(D); 

9 ‘‘(3) is employed full-time as an employee or 

10 manager of a qualified farm or ranch at the time of 

11 such forgiveness; and 

12 ‘‘(4) has been employed full-time as an em13 ployee or manager of a qualified farm or ranch dur14 ing the period in which the borrower makes each of 

15 the qualifying payments described in paragraph (2). 

16 ‘‘(c) LOAN CANCELLATION AMOUNT.—After the con17 clusion of the employment period described in subsection 

18 (b), the Secretary shall cancel the obligation to repay the 

19 balance of principal and interest due as of the time of such 

20 cancellation, on the eligible Federal Direct Loans made 

21 to the borrower under this part. 

22 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL FROM THE PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

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1 cultural student loan forgiveness program if the bor2 rower— 

3 ‘‘(A) was less than 40 years old when the 

4 borrower entered the agricultural student loan 

5 forgiveness program, and that borrower fails to 

6 be employed full-time as an employee or man7 ager of a qualified farm or ranch for a cumu8 lative period of more than 7 years after enter9 ing the program; or 

10 ‘‘(B) was 40 years old or older when the 

11 borrower entered the agricultural student loan 

12 forgiveness program, and that borrower fails to 

13 be employed full-time as an employee or man14 ager of a qualified farm or ranch for a cumu15 lative period of more than 3 years after enter16 ing the program. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR MILITARY SERVICE.—The 

18 Secretary shall not consider any of the following as 

19 a period of time counting toward removal from the 

20 agricultural student loan forgiveness program for 

21 purposes of paragraph (1): 

22 ‘‘(A) Time serving on active duty during a 

23 war or other military operation or national 

24 emergency. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Time performing qualifying National 

2 Guard duty during a war or other military op3 eration or national emergency. 

4 ‘‘(C) The 180-day period following the de5 mobilization date for the service described in 

6 subparagraph (A) or (B). 

7 ‘‘(3) READMISSION PROHIBITED.—The Sec8 retary shall not allow a borrower who has been re9 moved from the agricultural student loan forgiveness 

10 program under this section to be readmitted to the 

11 program, unless the Secretary finds that the bor12 rower has experienced exceptional circumstances. 

13 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN.—The term 

14 ‘eligible Federal Direct Loan’ means a Federal Direct 

15 Stafford Loan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan, or Federal 

16 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct 

17 Consolidation Loan.’’. 

18 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not more than 180 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu20 cation, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, 

21 shall promulgate final regulations to carry out the amend22 ment made by subsection (a), including regulations relat23 ing to the process of tracking and verifying work as an 

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1 poses of section 460A of the Higher Education Act of 

2 1965 (as added by this Act). 

Æ 


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