WASHINGTON -- The House voted yesterday in favor of the biggest overhaul of college-aid programs since their creation in the 1960s -- a bill to oust private lenders from the student-loan business and put the government in charge.

The vote was 253-171 in favor of a bill that fulfills nearly all of President Barack Obama's campaign promises for higher education: The measure ends subsidies for private lenders, boosts Pell Grants for needy students and creates grant programs to improve community colleges and graduation rates, among other things.

"These are reforms that have been talked about for years, but they're always blocked by special interests and their lobbyists," Obama said yesterday at the University of Maryland.

"Well, because you voted for change in November, we're going to bring change in the House of Representatives today," Obama said.

But the measure goes next to the Senate, where its fate is a little less certain.

Ending loan subsidies and turning control over to the government would save taxpayers about $87 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said. Lawmakers would use that money to help make college more affordable, increasing the maximum Pell Grant by $1,400, to $6,900 over the next decade.

"The choice before us is clear. We can either keep sending these subsidies to banks or we can start sending them directly to students," said the bill's sponsor, California Democratic Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

Yet the money also would be spent on things that don't help pay for college, such as construction at K-12 schools and new preschool programs.

And while the measure would increase Pell Grants, it would do nothing to curb college costs.

In addition, the CBO said that when administrative costs and market conditions are considered, the savings from switching to direct government lending could be lower, $47 billion instead of $87 billion.

Republicans warned that instead of saving the government money, the bill could wind up costing the government more money.

"Unfortunately, the numbers just don't add up," said Minnesota Rep. John Kline, senior Republican on the education committee.

Lawmakers split largely along party lines on the bill, with only six Republicans in favor and four Democrats against.

Under the measure, Pell Grants would rise slightly more than inflation over the next decade, increasing on average by about 2.6 percent yearly, according to the bill's sponsors. However, the grants still would depend on annual spending bills and could rise less than promised, as has happened.

Lawmakers met Obama halfway on the labyrinthine college-aid form; he proposed to eliminate it altogether when he ran for president, but the bill would keep the form and shorten it.

College students probably wouldn't notice much difference in their loans, which they would get through their schools. However, officials at several colleges worry that they might not be able to make the switch to direct government loans in time for next year.

More schools administer federal loans through the subsidized loan program than from the government's direct loan program. Private lenders made $56 billion in government-backed loans to more than 6 million students last year, compared with $14 billion in direct loans from the government.

Republicans argued it is wrong to put the government in near-total control of student lending. Many also worry about job losses in their districts. Private lenders employ more than 30,000 people whose jobs depend on the subsidized loan program.

Sallie Mae, the biggest student lender, has about 8,500 employees and probably would lay off about 30 percent of those workers. It still will have contracts to service federal loans.