The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Twenty-six Ohio college students working in Washington as interns have learned they're not going to get the state scholarship money they were anticipating.

The Ohio Board of Regents said that more than a year ago, it told the Washington Center, which sponsors the internship program, that state budget cuts eliminated the scholarship fund. But the center says it didn't know until September.

"Up until the day I left, I was told I was going to be getting the $2,000," said Kathryn Staczek, an Ohio State University senior and an intern for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But when she arrived in Washington on Aug. 28, the Ohio Capitol Scholarship money wasn't waiting for her.

Ms. Staczek said the center, a nonprofit organization, informed the students by e-mail on Oct. 25 that they wouldn't be getting the money.

"A lot of people were counting on that, and some may have to leave," she said.

Avys Hardison, a senior at the University of Toledo, is among those people.

"My mother had to charge $1,700 on a credit card the day I moved in" so Ms. Hardison could cover living expenses, she told the Columbus Dispatch in a story published Friday.

In past years, the state has provided as much as $250,000 for the program - enough for 125 scholarships of $2,000 each.

"The Washington Center people knew the scholarships weren't funded" this academic year, said Roderick Chu, chancellor of the regents. "They proceeded without consulting with us."

A letter to Mr. Chu from the center on Oct. 18 said, "We at the center first learned of this problem Sept. 9 in a voice mail from the scholarship office of the Ohio Board of Regents - 10 days after the students arrived, moved into our housing, underwent orientation and started their internships."

Ohio owes the center $52,000, according to the letter.

Rick Petrick, vice chancellor of the regents, said universities are trying to find funding for the program and the regents might be able to reimburse them later if money is left over from other scholarship programs. However, it won't know about any surplus for months.

The Washington Center coordinates thousands of internships for college students across the nation, according to its Web site. Students receive course credit.