MOUNT VERNON — The health reform reconciliation package passed last week includes what U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D- Ohio, called the largest federal expansion of student aid in the nation’s history — legislation Brown said would help more students afford college, keep jobs in the U.S., and promote economic competitiveness, all at no additional cost to United States taxpayers.

“The education provisions of this bill include $36 billion supporting Pell grants, the bedrock of student aid for low- and middle-income families,” Brown said in a conference call Wednesday with reporters.

There would be an estimated $1.2 billion additional in Pell grants for Ohio students over the next 10 years, Brown continued, and, he said, “we’ll be able to fund Pell grants at an historic $5,500 for the next academic year and better in the future. We’ll increase the Pell grant at least at the rate of inflation in future years