The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Senate candidate Daniel Mongiardo on Tuesday proposed more financial aid for college students, including a tuition tax break for their parents. His campaign said the cost would be about $8 billion a year.

Mongiardo, a Democrat running against U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, said in a news conference at the University of Kentucky that his plan was aimed at "middle-class families ... struggling to keep up with rising college tuition costs."

He claimed 220,000 students nationwide, including 4,200 in Kentucky, were priced out of college last year. A spokesman said the estimates were taken from a campaign plank of presidential candidate John Kerry.

Mongiardo also claimed Bunning has voted against some higher education spending measures, including proposed increases in federal Pell Grants, which are awarded according to financial need.

Bunning's campaign said the incumbent had done the opposite. "He has voted to increase Pell Grant funding and thinks we can do even more," Bunning campaign manager David Young said in a statement.

Young said Bunning has voted to increase overall Pell Grant funding by $4.3 billion and to provide an extra $1,000 in Pell Grants for high school students in the State Scholars program.

Mongiardo's proposal included allowing middle-class taxpayers to deduct up to $12,000 of college tuition costs. His spokesman, Eric Niloff, said it was focused on individual making up to $60,000 a year or couples making up to $130,000 and was similar to legislation proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Niloff said the tax break was estimated at $2.6 billion.

The bulk of Mongiardo's proposal was to raise the Pell Grant limit by $1,000 a year. The current limit is $4,050 per year. Grants do not have to be repaid.

Niloff said the estimated cost was $4.4 billion, based on 2002 federal data showing 4.4 million Pell recipients.

However, U.S. Department of Education data for the 2002-2003 academic year showed nearly 4.8 million Pell grant recipients nationwide. Of those, just more than 4 million were college and university students and 775,000 were in proprietary schools.

Kentucky had about 64,500 Pell Grant recipients in colleges and universities and 75,000 in all during the period, according to the department's data.

Mongiardo proposed spending $1 billion to create a "new generation scholarship" - an additional $1,000 in Pell grant funds - for students who, like himself, are the first in their family to attend college.