Putting a 10 percent cap on annual fee and tuition increases at California universities and colleges, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed, would help smooth out the skyrocketing rise in costs that has plagued students and their parents the past two years.

And, if the governor's idea passes, it will do away with the need for SB 786 proposed by Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, by making increases more predictable -- and palatable -- for those who have to pay them.

Denham's bill would require that a full school term -- either a semester or a quarter -- pass before fee increases can take effect. This avoids situations such as those the past two summers when fee increases were approved by University of California regents and California State University trustees just before the new school year began.

Unfortunately for those footing college bills, rates rose a staggering 40 percent at both institutions those two years. And, some students had paid for the upcoming semester when governing boards raised rates to offset cuts in state funds, making it necessary to bill them for the difference. Such late add-ons understandably spawn discontent among those affected.

Not that university and college administrators completely control the pace at which tuition and fee increases are decided. That partly falls to the Legislature's budget approval process, which historically is almost always late.

That makes university officials uneasy about Denham's proposed one-term delay for fee increases. If legislators make late-summer cuts after it passes, colleges couldn't recover the money through higher fees until the second quarter or semester.

Legally, the state fiscal year begins July 1, but seldom in the past quarter century has the Legislature met the deadline. Last summer, approval was about a month late, making it August before state institutions of higher learning knew what their budgets would be. When school starts a month later, last-minute fee increases are inconvenient for those who must pay them.

Sizable increases the past two years have pushed annual fees to $2,409 at CSU institutions and$4,984 at UC. A 10 percent cap would help. If you know what the ceiling is, you can prepare for it. If it's open-ended, you're playing a guessing game. Something should be done to make rate hikes more predictable. Either Schwarzenegger's cap or waiting a term, as Denham proposes, would do that. But we don't need both.

The 10 percent ceiling actually responds to both concerns. If you know the maximum increase possible, you can plan and prepare for it. If 10 percent ends up being more than the actual increase, you're ahead of the game.

We need to stabilize tuition and fee hikes. Facing a third major increase in as many years, students and parents need a more predictable system.