RALEIGH, N.C. — Community colleges in North Carolina are growing, along with their needs.

On Thursday, the state board of the community college system will start hammering out the budget for the next two years. They plan to ask the General Assembly for more than $220 million in equipment funding.

Administrators said half the money is needed for new computers. In many of the labs, the computers being used are practically obsolete.

"For every percentage of unemployment increase, our enrollment goes up 2 percent," said Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College system. "You can't train tomorrow's workers on yesterday's equipment."

This year, state lawmakers gave the system $15 million for equipment.