In the other Washington (i.e. Washington D.C.) efforts to move legislation that directly impacts higher education (i.e. financial aid) received a much needed push by the White House.

Yesterday morning, the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified before the House Budget Committee urging Congress to support the President’s FY11 budget, which assumes passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) (H.R. 3221).

SAFRA increases funding for the Pell Grant program and creates low-cost student loans among other things. SAFRA is now in the U.S. Senate has been referred to referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Also yesterday morning the Senate passed the first of what is to be expected multiple job bills. While higher education advocates have and continue to lobby for an additional $300 million for the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program, these additional funds were not included in the $15 billion Senate bill passed yesterday.

The additional $300 million comes from the U.S. House of Representatives’ jobs package bill. The $154 billion package, passed in December, included these funds for the FWS program. The additional $300 million would keep funding level with this year’s ARRA-supplemented (stimulus dollars) appropriation.

While higher education lobbyists will continue to advocate for these additional dollars the next step in the process is unclear.

The Senate is expected to pass multiple bills as a part of their job-creation initiative to make passage easier. The more narrow a bill the better the passage is the thinking behind this strategy.

The House is also strategizing whether or not to try and reconcile their bill with the Senate bill or simply start over.