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STEUBENVILLE - Proposed federal reforms to higher education financial assistance programs would mean $97 million in additional funding for students in the 6th Congressional District, according to U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville.

Wilson spoke about the Student Aid Fiscal Responsibility Act on a visit to Jefferson Community College on Friday.

Wilson said education is the key to economic recovery because it will develop workers with the skills to match available jobs. He said there will be 1,100 jobs available in the area during the next several years as older employees retire.

"We want to make sure the right kind of educated work force is there that these employers are going to need," Wilson said.

He said the additional student aid in the district will include Pell Grants and low-interest federal student loans.

Asked if the federal government pushing the private sector out of the student loan business might leave some middle-income families stranded - earning too much for grants but too little to pay for loans - Wilson said private lenders were motivated by profit.

"There was some difficulty with the private lending sector. We will make it more efficient and there will be a commission set up to do it," Wilson said. "Everyone was having a profit opportunity on student loans.

"We are aiming for them, to help the middle class," he said. "We're trying to aid the middle class and lift them up."

Wilson said with a federally run program, more money will go directly to students to pay for their education than what is going to private lenders for loan administration fees. He said the intention is to help, not to hurt, middle class families trying to pay for higher education.

The House version of the higher education funding bill came in for some criticism initially because of a rider that would have provided money to the controversial ACORN group.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform was accused of falsifying voter applications during the 2008 presidential election. It has come under fire in recent days for the conduct of some employees caught on videotape allegedly advising a man and woman posing as a prostitute and a pimp on how to launder their money and lie about their income sources. The U.S. Census Bureau has eliminated ACORN from its groups to help with the 2010 Census.

Wilson voted to eliminate the funding for ACORN in a separate vote taken on the education funding act.

"There was a separate vote that said there would be no funding in the bill for ACORN and I voted 'yes' on that," Wilson said after his session at JCC.

Wilson said the education measure as passed by the House would expand the federal Perkins higher education loan program.

Wilson heard the stories of two JCC students, Ashlea Sciarra and Chastity Neale, about how student aid programs have enabled them to get their higher education later in their 20s.

(Giannamore can be contacted at pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com.)