Here are the top five state colleges for earmark requests:

N.C. State University: 23 requests, seven Congressmen, $58.9 million, to study nanotechnology, pig waste, sweet potatoes, aquaculture, biotechnology and textiles, among other things.

N.C. A&T State University: 10 requests, four Congressmen, $23.8 million, to study using cattails for biofuel, retrain workers, research microelectronics and run a math literacy program, among other things.

East Carolina University: Nine requests, two Congressmen, $18.5 million, to study obesity and diabetes, help returning military personnel, research biofuels, pig waste and coastal development, among other things.

UNC-Chapel Hill: Eight requests, five Congressmen, $18 million, to study solar power, research public health trends, develop a technology curriculum, run a cancer center and start a virtual warfare center.

Wake Forest University: Two requests, one Congressman, $15 million, to study regenerative medicine.

In all, 31 colleges requested $184.5 million worth of earmarks through the Congressional delegation this year.

Other requestors included Shaw University, Bennett College for Women, the UNC School of the Arts, Winston-Salem State University, Rockingham Community College and Central Piedmont Community College.

Michelle Obama campaigned for her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, at Winston-Salem State University earlier today. (Staff video by Travis Long)

Michelle Obama will visit Raleigh and Winston-Salem on Tuesday.

The first event will be held at 2:30 p.m. at Winston-Salem State University. The second will be at 7:30 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum at N.C. State in Raleigh.

Doors open at both events an hour before the start time.

Free tickets are available at nc.barackobama.com.

The head of the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus will release a statement tomorrow on the recipients of its college scholarships.

In April, Rep. Alma Adams asked for an audit of the caucus' nonprofit foundation, after a previous chairwoman expressed concern that the group had spent too much money on an annual conference. A spokeswoman for the Greensboro Democrat said she would discuss some of the findings tomorrow.

"Any questions you have will be answered then," said Wanda Kay, Adams' research administrator.

To date, the foundation has not released the names of all scholarship recipients, but at least one is the son of a ranking member of the caucus.

Rep. Larry Womble, a Winston-Salem Democrat, was the foundation's second vice chair in 2006. The following year, his son, Jamaal, received two scholarship checks to attend Winston-Salem State University.

A spokeswoman for Womble referred all questions to Adams, but she noted that his son is not the only relative of a caucus member to have received a scholarship. Both Womble and Adams refused comment.

In 2005, the foundation gave out $54,318 in scholarships.