GREENSBORO — When the N.C. General Assembly is in session, university chancellors watch warily: What are state lawmakers going to do to us this year?

But N.C. A&T and N.C. Central got a pleasant surprise last year, when the legislature set up a new scholarship program at both universities. This year’s budget proposal contains actual state money for the Cheatham-White Scholarships, which will be awarded for the first time next fall to incoming freshmen at the two schools.

“The Cheatham-White scholars program is a big deal for us,” A&T Chancellor Harold Martin said in an interview last week.