Twenty-six college students from Ohio are stranded in Washington without promised scholarship money because of a misunderstanding between the Ohio Board of Regents and the Washington Internship Center for Interns and Seminars.
The Washington Center sets up internships for students, most of which are unpaid, but the Ohio Board of Regents funds scholarships to enable students to participate.
According to the Ohio Board of Regents, the money was there until the last budget, when it was cut. The cut was public knowledge and the Washington Center should have known, the board said.
We almost had this problem last year when money was cut from the budget, but the Ohio Board of Regents pulled some money together and sent it to the students to cover the budget cut, said Jamie Abel, assistant director of communications for the Ohio Board of Regents.
“The Washington Center sent the students under scholarship without making sure the scholarship money was there,” Abel said.
“It seems like a lot of finger pointing about who is to blame is going on, but the important thing is to try to get the students reimbursed and taken care of,” said Ohio Congressman Pat Tiberi.
Tiberi got involved because he felt the students should have never been allowed to go without proper funding. He is trying to get the Ohio Board of Regents and the students’ schools to work together and produce funding.
“Two universities have already agreed to reimburse their students,” Tiberi said.
The Washington Center has made some emergency funding available to provide meals for some of the students, said Mike Smith, executive vice president of the Washington Center.
“All 26 interns have been understanding and have agreed to stay,” Smith said.
“We have been working with the Ohio Board of Regents to find funding for the students, and we think we are making progress,” Smith said. “Everyone on all sides is working hard, we have faith in both parts.”
Tiberi is also working hard to make sure this will not happen again. He is researching the eight other states involved in this program to see if they have ever had any problems like this.
“There are a bunch of kids there that aren’t getting funding, that is not right,” Tiberi said.
As for the Board of Regents, there may not be a chance for this problem to occur again because the funding just won’t be there, Abel said.
“We may not be sure until the end of the fiscal year, but it doesn’t look good,” Abel said.
