More good news for local supporters of higher education: Gov. Mike Easley's budget this year proposes a $14.5 million University of North Carolina satellite campus in Rocky Mount.

The plan surprised plenty of people on the opening day of the N.C. General Assembly's short session, including folks who have continued to look for ways to meet higher education needs in Eastern North Carolina.

As you probably remember, a movement last year to convert N.C. Wesleyan College into the 17th UNC system campus failed after a study committee deemed it unfeasible. UNC administrators renewed hope this year with the creation of the Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council, a group of educators, government leaders and business executives from five counties.

But few expected anything on the scale of what Easley has proposed this early in the game. His budget calls for a $14.5 million campus, the first of three he hopes would be built in parts of North Carolina that face long-distance access to schools in the UNC system. As Telegram staff writers Mike Hixenbaugh and Carolyn Casey reported Wednesday, the classroom building would serve as the primary location for site-based higher education programs for Edgecombe, Nash, Halifax, Northhampton and Wilson counties.

The proposal already has won praise from N.C. Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash, and former Rocky Mount Mayor Fred Turnage, who chairs the Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council.

Here's hoping it also wins support from N.C. Rep. Angela Bryant, D-Nash, as Easley's $21.5 billion budget makes its way through the N.C. House.

Schools of all types in Eastern North Carolina need all the help they can get, but Easley's proposal marks real progress in the quest for affordable higher education in a region underserved by the UNC system.

A Rocky Mount campus would be good news indeed.