(MONEY Magazine) – Parents hoping Congress would provide some assistance to college savers this year still find themselves rowing against the tide. ''We've been blitzed by the deficit,'' says Sandy McMullan of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. ''It's wiped savings incentives off the reality screen.'' That leaves Series EE U.S. Savings Bonds as the only major potential federal tax break for college savers. Unfortunately, the program, initiated at the beginning of this year, is seriously flawed. Interest on bonds bought after Dec. 31, 1989, is exempt from federal taxes if the proceeds are used for college tuition, but only for some people: -- The cost of success. To get the tax savings, your modified adjusted gross income must fall under certain limits when you redeem the bonds, no matter how little you earned when you bought them. The deduction begins to phase out on incomes above $60,000 for couples and $40,000 for singles and disappears altogether at $90,000 for couples and $55,000 for singles. Those limits climb each year with inflation, but the fact remains: if you really get ahead, you'll be penalized. -- The broken-marriage penalty. And while you're being careful not to prosper, stay married. Couples must file joint returns to get the deduction. That means if you are separated when you redeem the bonds and decide not to file jointly, you will pay tax on the interest; if you are divorced, you will pay tax unless your income is under the single-filer limit. -- Skip meals. The proceeds must be spent only on tuition and fees -- even though room and board now average 50% of college costs. -- Grandparents need not apply. Here's another baffling annoyance. To get the tax break, you must spend the proceeds on yourself, your spouse or your child. That means grandparents can't aid their grandchildren directly. Instead, they must give the money to their children and ask that it go for bonds. -- Don't save too soon. You must be at least 24 years old when you buy the bonds to get the tax break. This provision was inserted so that a handful of wealthy parents could not give money to their kids to buy bonds in their own names. Meanwhile, millions of young parents are locked out. The bonds' new status as limited tax shelters hasn't seemed to boost sales, which totaled $6 billion through September, compared with $5.9 billion for the first nine months of '89. Senator David Boren (D, Okla.) is among those pushing plans to aid college savers (also, see MONEY's SAFE proposal in the July 1990 issue). Says Boren: ''We need strong incentives to encourage savings, instead of penalizing them in the tax code.''