Sponsors (89)
The bill increases access to federal need-based student aid for family‑owned farms and small family businesses by excluding those assets from calculations, at the cost of higher federal aid spending, added administrative work for the Department of Education, and potential perceptions of unequal treatment.
Parents and families who own and live on a family farm or who own/control a small business (≤100 FTEs) will have those assets excluded from federal student aid asset calculations, increasing students' eligibility for need‑based aid and potentially raising award amounts (e.g., larger Pell grants or more subsidized aid).
The bill clarifies and structures the 'net value' language used in asset calculations, which should reduce inconsistent interpretation by the Department of Education and improve predictability in aid determinations.
Families that operate family farms or small, family‑controlled businesses are less likely to be financially penalized by federal aid formulas, preserving those businesses' viability while enabling students from those households to access aid.
All taxpayers may face higher federal student aid costs if excluding farms and small businesses from asset counts increases the number or size of grants and subsidized loans.
Implementing the 'owned and controlled by the family' definition and the ≤100 FTE threshold will create administrative complexity and likely require Department of Education rulemaking, increasing implementation burden and potential for inconsistent application during transition.
Students and families who do not own farms or small family businesses may perceive the change as unfair, raising equity concerns about differential treatment in need-based aid calculations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Excludes a family’s primary farm and family-owned small businesses (≤100 FTEs) from assets counted in federal student aid need analysis.
Introduced February 7, 2025 by Tracey Mann · Last progress February 7, 2025
Excludes the value of a family's primary farm and family-owned small businesses (those with 100 or fewer full-time or full-time-equivalent employees) from the assets counted in federal student aid need analysis. The change alters how net worth is described for asset counting and applies to need analysis used to award Title IV Part F aid beginning with award years that start on or after enactment. The result is that many families who live on a family farm or who own and control a qualifying small business may show lower counted assets when applying for federal student aid, which can increase students' eligibility for need-based aid or raise the amount of aid they receive. Schools and the Department of Education would need to update financial aid forms, verification, and guidance to reflect the exclusion.