Gov. David A. Paterson's call for a $600 increase in yearly tuition at state university colleges has renewed debate over a more rational tuition policy that avoids the sudden, dramatic jumps in the cost of attending a state college.

SUNY tuition is a politically sensitive issue, subject to the whims of the state Legislature. The SUNY board of trustees sets rates subject to approval of the governor and the Legislature, which has been reluctant for political reasons to approve tuition hikes. If approved, the governor's request would be the second increase in 11 years. Undergraduate tuition for in-state students has been $4,350 since 2003. Then, tuition jumped 28 percent, or $950 from $3,400 set in 1995. The governor's request would be a 14 percent hike to generate $94 million in added revenue.

The sporadic tuition hikes, though, have SUNY leaders, campus presidents and even student representatives calling for more predictable and slower-growing increases tied to an independent index rather than the political climate.

Carl T. Hayden, chairman of the SUNY board, has suggested tying tuition to the costs of higher education nationally. Another possibility is to link it to the rate of inflation, the consumer price index or an index that measures family income. Indexing tuition would permit more gradual increases families and college officials could plan on yearly.

"The way it is now certainly is not the best way to do things," H. Carl McCall, a member of the SUNY board, told the New York Times. "Any tuition program we put forward would be some program that would look at predictable, regular increases rather than these spikes during a crisis."

Students might be expected to oppose tuition increases. The SUNY Student Assembly, which represents the 427,000 students at the 64 SUNY campuses, last month endorsed the concept of incremental increases.

Also gaining favor with college officials is Gov. Paterson's recommendation to break from the past practice of using all of the revenue from the tuition increase to offset general-fund spending on higher education. The governor proposes allowing SUNY and the City University of New York to keep 10 percent of the spring tuition increase for investment and 20 percent in the 2009-10 academic year.

Other states have enacted automatic tuition increases that put their college financing on a sounder basis. Now is the time for New York to do so.

In the long run, the best solution is to let each SUNYcollege set its own tuition based on what the institution has to offer and what the market will bear.