II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2168 

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 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. UDALL) 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, with respect to 

5 a year, a farm or ranch whose earnings of gross revenue 

6 during the year from the sale of agricultural products 

7 are— 

8 ‘‘(1) not less than— 

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of 2019, $35,000; and 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of any succeeding year, 

11 the amount applicable under this paragraph for 

12 the previous year increased by the estimated 

13 percentage change in the Consumer Price Index 

14 (as determined by the Secretary, using the defi15 nition in section 478(f)) for the most recent 

16 preceding year; and 

17 ‘‘(2) not more than— 

18 ‘‘(A) in the case of 2019, $1,000,000; and 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of any succeeding year, 

20 the amount applicable under this paragraph for 

21 the previous year increased by the estimated 

22 percentage change in the Consumer Price Index 

23 (as determined by the Secretary, using the defi24 nition in section 478(f)) for the most recent 

25 preceding year. 


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

2 balance of interest and principal due, in accordance with 

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

4 in default for a borrower who— 

5 ‘‘(1) at the time of initial entrance into the ag6 ricultural student loan forgiveness program— 

7 ‘‘(A) is employed full-time as an employee 

8 or manager of a qualified farm or ranch; and 

9 ‘‘(B) is— 

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

11 defined under section 343(a) of the Con12 solidated Farm and Rural Development 

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

14 ‘‘(ii) an individual from a population 

15 that is underrepresented in the agricultural 

16 profession (as determined by the Sec17 retary), such as minorities or women; 

18 ‘‘(iii) a socially disadvantaged farmer 

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

20 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop21 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e))); or 

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

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

24 Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 

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


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1 ‘‘(2) makes 120 monthly payments on the eligi2 ble Federal Direct Loan after the date of enactment 

3 of the Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and 

4 Ranchers Act, pursuant to any one or a combination 

5 of— 

6 ‘‘(A) payments under an income-based re7 payment plan under section 493C; 

8 ‘‘(B) payments under a standard repay9 ment plan under section 455(d)(1)(A), based on 

10 a 10-year repayment period; 

11 ‘‘(C) monthly payments under a repayment 

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

13 455 of not less than the monthly amount cal14 culated under section 455(d)(1)(A), based on a 

15 10-year repayment period; or 

16 ‘‘(D) payments under an income contin17 gent repayment plan under section 

18 455(d)(1)(D); 

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

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

21 such forgiveness; and 

22 ‘‘(4) has been employed full-time as an em23 ployee or manager of a qualified farm or ranch dur24 ing the period in which the borrower makes each of 

25 the qualifying payments described in paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(c) LOAN CANCELLATION AMOUNT.—After the con2 clusion of the employment period described in subsection 

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

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

5 cancellation, on the eligible Federal Direct Loans made 

6 to the borrower under this part. 

7 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL FROM THE PROGRAM.— 

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

9 the Secretary shall remove a borrower from the agri10 cultural student loan forgiveness program if the bor11 rower— 

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

13 borrower entered the agricultural student loan 

14 forgiveness program, and that borrower fails to 

15 be employed full-time as an employee or man16 ager of a qualified farm or ranch for a cumu17 lative period of more than 7 years after enter18 ing the program; or 

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

20 borrower entered the agricultural student loan 

21 forgiveness program, and that borrower fails to 

22 be employed full-time as an employee or man23 ager of a qualified farm or ranch for a cumu24 lative period of more than 3 years after enter25 ing the program. 


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

2 Secretary shall not consider any of the following as 

3 a period of time counting toward removal from the 

4 agricultural student loan forgiveness program for 

5 purposes of paragraph (1): 

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

7 war or other military operation or national 

8 emergency. 

9 ‘‘(B) Time performing qualifying National 

10 Guard duty during a war or other military op11 eration or national emergency. 

12 ‘‘(C) The 180-day period following the de13 mobilization date for the service described in 

14 subparagraph (A) or (B). 

15 ‘‘(3) READMISSION PROHIBITED.—The Sec16 retary shall not allow a borrower who has been re17 moved from the agricultural student loan forgiveness 

18 program under this section to be readmitted to the 

19 program, unless the Secretary finds that the bor20 rower has experienced exceptional circumstances. 

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

22 ‘eligible Federal Direct Loan’ means a Federal Direct 

23 Stafford Loan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan, or Federal 

24 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct 

25 Consolidation Loan.’’. 


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

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu3 cation, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, 

4 shall promulgate final regulations to carry out this section, 

5 including regulations relating to the process of tracking 

6 and verifying work as an employee or manager of a quali7 fied farm or ranch for purposes of section 460A of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (as added by this Act). 

Æ 


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