A Year of Treading Water?

By PETER SCHMIDT

Like a tasty but forgettable meal in an expensive four-star restaurant, the year 2006 is likely to disappoint many colleges by merely being good.Certainly, some of the basic ingredients for a great year, such as a rebounding national economy, are on hand.

More than half of the states — including some of the most populous, such as California, Illinois, and New York — expect to see solid economic growth and substantial increases in tax revenue. In response, their