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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 7, 2025
Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act
This bill restores an exemption for certain family farms and small businesses on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The bill applies to the net worth of (1) a family farm on which the family resides, or (2) a small business with not more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees that is owned and controlled by the family.
Prior to recent changes made to the FAFSA, the net worth of these family farms and small businesses were excluded as assets when calculating a student's financial need to determine federal student aid eligibility. Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, the net worth of these farms and businesses are treated as an asset and therefore included in the calculation. This bill restores the exemption to exclude such net worth from the calculation.
People & committees
Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1] · R–KS
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Aug 3, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-07 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill proposes excluding the net value of qualifying family farms and family-owned small businesses from assets considered in federal student-aid need analysis. It covers farms where the family resides and businesses owned and controlled by the family with no more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees, including any part of such a business. The amendments would apply to award years beginning on or after enactment. The existing statutory provision is not supplied, so its complete amended operation cannot be established from this text alone.
Exempting family farms and small businesses from assets under the Higher Education Act of 1965
by striking net value of the and inserting the following: net value of— (A) the
(B) a family farm on which the family resides; or (C) a small business with not more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees (or any part of such a small business) that is owned and controlled by the family.
The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to need analysis conducted under part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.) for award years beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 2 would restructure the existing “net value of” language and add a family farm on which the family resides as subparagraph (B). The proposed farm exemption therefore includes a residence condition.
Exempting family farms and small businesses from assets under the Higher Education Act of 1965
by striking net value of the and inserting the following: net value of— (A) the
(B) a family farm on which the family resides;
Section 2 would add subparagraph (C) for a small business, or any part of it, owned and controlled by the family and having no more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees. This addition follows the amended “net value of” language. The bill does not define how full-time equivalent employees would be counted.
by striking net value of the and inserting the following: net value of— (A) the
(C) a small business with not more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees (or any part of such a small business) that is owned and controlled by the family.
The amendments would apply to need analysis under part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act for award years beginning on or after enactment. The bill specifies no fixed calendar start date or expiration date.
(b) Applicability The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to need analysis conducted under part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.) for award years beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated August 3, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on February 7, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-08-03T21:04:28Z. 2025-02-07: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2025-02-07: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-07. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials; formal earmark disclosures and reports are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The findings identify proposed asset-specific exemptions within the bill's main policy. Classification does not establish whether the treatment is justified or how much aid would change.
Families residing on a family farm are the beneficiaries of a proposed exemption for the farm's net value in student-aid need analysis. This asset-specific treatment is part of the bill's central policy; the full operation of the exemption depends on statutory text not supplied.
Exempting family farms and small businesses from assets under the Higher Education Act of 1965
by striking net value of the and inserting the following: net value of— (A) the
(B) a family farm on which the family resides;
The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to need analysis conducted under part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.) for award years beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Families owning and controlling a small business with no more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees are the beneficiaries of a proposed net-value exemption in student-aid need analysis, including for any part of such a business. This asset-specific treatment is part of the bill's central policy; the full operation of the exemption depends on statutory text not supplied.
Exempting family farms and small businesses from assets under the Higher Education Act of 1965
by striking net value of the and inserting the following: net value of— (A) the
(C) a small business with not more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees (or any part of such a small business) that is owned and controlled by the family.
The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to need analysis conducted under part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.) for award years beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 3, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI