Youth Loan Program

FSA makes loans to individual young persons to start and operate income-producing projects of modest size in connection with their participation in 4-H clubs, FFA, a Tribal youth group, or similar agricultural youth organization. The project being financed with an FSA Youth Loan needs to provide an opportunity for the young person to acquire experience and education in agriculture-related skills.

The Youth Loan application requires a recommendation from a project advisor who verifies that he/she will sponsor the loan applicant, has the correct training and experience to supervise your project, and is available to help whenever needed.

If you are between the ages of 10 and 20 years at the time of loan closing, parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) must consent to the loan application. Young people applying for a Youth Loan are personally responsible for repaying the loan. A co-signer is required only if the project shows possible difficulty in repaying the loan or does not meet security requirements.

Eligibility

The approved project to be financed must:
be able to produce sufficient income to repay the loan amount plus accrued interest in full;
be related to agriculture;
be educational;
be part of an organized and supervised program; and
not be a noneligible enterprise.

In addition to the items listed for project requirements, Youth loan applicants also must:
be a United States citizen, non-citizen national, or qualified legal alien;
have no controlled substance convictions;
have no past due debt problems;
have not caused the Government a financial loss on previous loan assistance; and
have not received debt forgiveness from FSA.

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