# 119-s-5388: Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act

119-s-5388, Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5388
- As of: 2026-10-16
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5388
- Congress: 119
- Title: Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-14
- Sponsor: Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-16

## Summary

**A new loan-forgiveness program for farmers and ranchers** would cancel the remaining principal and interest on qualifying Federal Direct loans after borrowers meet defined work and payment requirements. - Farmers and ranchers working full-time on a farm or ranch with a USDA farm number and an AD-20347 form on file would qualify to earn forgiveness after 120 monthly payments and continuous employment. - Specific groups eligible include beginning farmers, individuals from populations underrepresented in agriculture, socially disadvantaged farmers, and veteran farmers. - Eligible loans would include Federal Direct Stafford, Federal Direct PLUS, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford, and Federal Direct Consolidation loans. - To get cancellation a borrower must be employed full-time as an employee or manager of a qualified farm or ranch during the payment period and at the time of cancellation. Borrowers who entered under age 40 would be removed if they fail to meet cumulative full-time service limits of more than 7 years, and borrowers 40 or older would be removed if they fail to meet more than 3 years. - The Secretary of Education, working with the Secretary of Agriculture, would have 180 days after enactment to issue final regulations and set up processes to track and verify farm employment.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Student loan forgiveness for farmers: benefit, high. If enacted, you would be able to get remaining principal and interest canceled on eligible Federal Direct loans after meeting program rules. To qualify you would need an eligible Direct loan that is not in default and to belong to a covered group at entry (for example, a beginning farmer, an underr…
- Rules for verifying farm work: benefit, low. If enacted, the Department of Education would have 180 days after enactment to issue final rules for the farm loan forgiveness program. The rules would be written in consultation with the Department of Agriculture. They would set how the department tracks and verifies work as an employee or manager…

## Related bills

- 119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-5388 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5388)

## Related
- [119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-524)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5388 (as of 2026-10-16).