Heartland lawmakers seek to fix ‘fundamental’ roadblock for farm kids seeking student aid

Two bipartisan lawmakers from America’s agricultural heartland are putting forth legislation that would amend the federal student aid provisions to help students in farming families receive the help they need to go to school.

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., along with Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., in the House, are forwarding the Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act.

As of late, the household contribution formula for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) “fundamentally misunderstands” how farming families operate and how agricultural assets differ from the more liquid assets of other U.S. families.

FAFSA is a form typically accessible to students on Oct. 1 of each year to allow for ample time to submit financial information in advance of both state and school-specific deadlines for aid eligibility. 

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“No one should have to sell off the farm — or their small business — to afford college,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. (Getty Images)

The bipartisan bill would exempt farms and small family businesses from considerations in the Higher Education Act of 1965 and therefore offer a more realistic calculus for students in rural areas seeking federal aid.

The new act would amend the FAFSA Simplification Act to restore the original exemption of all farmland, machinery, other operational materials and small businesses with fewer than 100 employees from being declared on the application.

“No one should have to sell off the farm — or their small business — to afford college. As a farm kid myself, I know the enormous impacts grants and financial aid have on rural students’ decision to go to college,” Ernst told Fox News Digital. 

“I’m fighting for Iowa families, so unfair policies don’t hold them back from investing in their child’s education.”

In February 2024, Ernst, her Iowa counterpart Sen. Charles Grassley, and other Heartland and Deep South lawmakers like Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker of Mississippi wrote to Biden Education Secretary Miguel Cardona about their concerns, which appeared to go largely unanswered.

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Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan. (Reuters)

They alleged Question 22 of the FAFSA application asks for the net worth of a family’s business operations, which the letter said wrongly analyzes how revenue streams for crops and livestock work — and how they can vary depending on the year.

“[A]ssets cannot be cashed out to support a loan in the same capacity as traditional investments,” the letter read. 

Therefore, Ernst on Thursday signaled she wants to adjust the qualification formula for FAFSA, so that America’s agricultural families are able to have an equal shot at aid based on their conditions.

Mann, who represents the seventh-largest congressional district in the nation that isn’t an at-large seat, said he has innumerable farm families who are in need of clear, fair FAFSA policy.

“Across Kansas’ Big First and the country, net farm income has decreased by nearly 25% since 2022,” Mann told Fox News Digital.

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“Between navigating record-levels of inflation and skyrocketing input costs, our family farmers, ranchers, agricultural producers and small business owners are doing their best to make an honest living.

“When young people from these families are applying for higher education financial aid, the assets tied up in the family farm or the small business should not count against them. Congress should work to make life easier, not harder, for these dedicated families and students.”

Mann said he hopes the bill will even the playing field for students while “protecting the American dream for every student regardless of their parents’ career ventures.”