The University of Hawaii Board of Regents met behind closed door for hours  to talk about a multi-million dollar temporary bailout for West Oahu college.

After decades of planning, the college campus opened with much fanfare just a few weeks ago.

The price tag for the new campus was $173 million.  It is now home for some 2,000 students.

But last month, the school said it had a serious cash flow problem because an $18 million loan didn’t come through this summer as expected.

Because it couldn't pay its venders and subcontractors it asked the regents to okay a $15 million advance.

"What we understand that this is a federal program that many people are trying to take advantage of and it has created a backlog in the approval process. While our lender has assured us they believe this is coming soon we have to take some action now," said UH Vice President of Budget and Finance Howard Toda.

The regents approved the loan for a period of six months with the caveat that no other additional construction work be done.

The university says the money will come from bonds earmarked for the college campus that it doesn't need right away.

Once the federal loan comes through, the money, with interest is expected to be repaid.

This is just the first phase of construction for West Oahu.  Todo said the general contractor for the project is A.C. Kobayashi.