Republican Gov. John Hoeven wants to boost North Dakota's college student grants from $6 million to $40 million, while Democratic rival Tim Mathern is advocating a tuition refund plan for graduates who stay in the state.

The proposals signal that students' difficulty in paying rising college costs will be a prominent issue in this fall's campaign for governor and during the 2009 Legislature, said William Goetz, the chancellor of North Dakota's university system.

"I appreciate the elevation of this issue. I think it's critically important," Goetz said Friday. "I think it's time that there is a public-wide discussion about student affordability, about student assistance, and where the needs are not being met."

During events in Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck on Friday, Hoeven outlined a proposal to offer up to $2,000 annually in college grants for North Dakota undergraduates who meet the program's financial need guidelines.

North Dakota's university system, which includes 11 public colleges, already has a much smaller grant program. It benefits about 4,000 students, with a grant limit of $800. Hoeven believes his initiative would cover any student who qualifies, a number he estimated at 11,000 students.

Students attending North Dakota's public and private colleges would be eligible for aid. The program is reserved for graduates of North Dakota high schools or students whose families live in North Dakota.

Hoeven has dubbed the plan ACT-ND - the first three letters stand for Aid for College Tuition - and he believes it will help the state keep workers it needs to bolster a labor market that has thousands more jobs than employees.

The proposal "will help us recruit, educate and train the workers for our growing economy and our growing state," Hoeven said.

Mathern has offered a plan to gradually refund tuition payments to graduates of North Dakota's colleges for each year they live and work in North Dakota. A graduate who lives in the state for eight years would recoup his or her entire tuition expense, he said.

"We have to combine our support for students with the issue of the need for population, particularly young people," Mathern said. "The bottom line is, we need (North Dakota college graduates) to work here. We need them to start a life here."

Mathern estimated his proposal would need $11.1 million annually for tuition refunds, beginning in 2010. Its annual cost would rise gradually to $89 million over eight years, he said.

Profits that the Bank of North Dakota earns on student college loans would provide some of the financing for the initiative, he said.

Mathern said Friday that Hoeven's proposal did not provide "real relief for the rising cost of college," while the governor said voters rejected a ballot measure six years ago that was similar to Mathern's idea. The initiative offered income tax credits and student loan repayments to new college graduates who remained in North Dakota to live and work.

Students who attended Hoeven's campaign news conference Friday at the Bismarck State College student union said they welcomed attempts to stem rising college costs and the debt loads that graduates carry.

"If we receive this financial aid, it will basically enable us to stay focused on our school, more so that worrying about jobs, worrying about where money is going to come from," said Bryce Loehrke, 20, a BSC student from New Salem.

Loehrke said he hoped to study veterinary medicine, and a smaller debt from college undergraduate studies will mean less stress as his education continues, he said.

"As living costs are going up, as college tuition is going up in cost, we don't have to think about our finances as much," Loehrke said. "We don't have to worry about it. We don't have to wonder, how many years of college debt am I going to be in?"