The thousands of high school graduates in Prince George's County, Md., have completed all their studies, but they don't have an official diploma to prove it.

A spelling error marred at least 8,000 high school diplomas that were distributed last week, officials from Prince George's County, Maryland's second-largest school district, said. Students received diplomas that stated they had completed the approved "progam" of study.

The missing "r" was discovered after commencement exercises had already begun.

“We apologized for any inconvenience or disappointment this may have caused our students,” Briant Coleman, spokesman for the Prince George’s County Schools, told msnbc.com on Thursday. “Our students have been disappointed and at the same time are relieved that they will be getting their new diplomas soon.”

Prince George’s County, located outside of Washington, D.C., has 23 high schools, Coleman said.

The mistake resulted from vendor error, he said.

The printing company issued an apology, saying it would cover the costs for reprints. “We understand the value of your hard work and achievement; therefore we are reprinting your diploma,” read a statement from National Quality Products, NBCWashington.com reported.

Terrence Odom, 18, who graduated on May 30 from Oxon Hill High School, said he was disappointed by the typo.

“I would think it would be somebody’s job to proof and reproof again, especially with something that serious,” Odom told The Washington Post. “We were all excited to get our diplomas. Now we have to wait to get the official one.”

Coleman said the diplomas should be in the mail later this month.

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Authorities were searching Wednesday for a convicted murder with an "extensive" criminal history who was accidentally released from custody while awaiting a court appearance in South Carolina, the sheriff's office says.

York County Sheriff's Office

Thomas Aaron Whitlock was released Monday from the York County Detention Center, which only realized the mistake nearly 24 hours later when arrangements were being made to return him to prison, the York County Sheriff's Office says.

Thomas Aaron Whitlock, a 31-year-old convicted of second-degree murder in 2009, was let go Monday afternoon from the York County Detention Center -- which only realized the mistake nearly 24 hours later when arrangements were being made to return him to prison in Windsor, N.C., according to the York County Sheriff's Office.

Whitlock had been taken to York County for a court appearance on drug-related charges.

"I could go into a lot of discussions that we've had as to how this took place," Sheriff Bruce Bryant told The Charlotte Observer. "We deal with thousands and thousands of prisoners each year, book close to 7,000 prisoners each year. There has been a mistake made."

South Carolina records show Whitlock had previously been convicted on burglary, robbery and drug charges. He was arrested in April 2010 by FBI agents who found him hiding under a home in Dallas, Texas, and he was later sentenced to between 11 and 14 years in the death of Jamie Thompson in Charlotte, the newspaper said.

The Sheriff’s Office said it was working with other law enforcement agencies and the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction to find the fugitive. Bryant also has launched an investigation into how Whitlock was released.

Bryant announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to Whitlock's recapture. People with information were urged to call the Sheriff's Office at 803-628-3059 or to go online at http://www.yorkcrimestoppers.com/.

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Time magazine's Arizona Latino voter cover featured Michael Schennum, a Chinese-American man, pictured behind the large 'M' in Time.

Time magazine has apologized for its cover this week featuring portraits of 15 Latino voters in Arizona after it emerged that one of them isn't Latino.

The cover features the bold proclamation "Why Latinos will pick the next President," along with "Yo Decido" — or "I decide" in English. But Michael Schennum — the man behind the "M" in Time's name — told The Arizona Republic, for whom he works as a staff photographer, that he's "part Norwegian and part Chinese and part Irish."

See the full Time Latino voters cover

Michelle Woo of OC Weekly in Orange County, Calif., was the first to spot the error, writing Thursday:

"A friend of mine, Michael Schennum, is the short-haired gentleman in the top row, center, behind the letter 'M.' He is half Chinese and half white. Not Latino. Not even a little bit."

Latino news and features on NBC Latino

Schennum said he wasn't offended by the article, "just surprised."

"It's a bit of an error on their part," he told the Republic. "If they would have asked me, I would have honestly answered, but they didn't ask me."

Time told New York Magazine on Thursday:

"Over the course of three days TIME photographed 151 people for the current cover. We took steps to ensure that everyone self-identified as Latino, that they are registered voters and that they would be willing to answer our questions. If there was a misunderstanding with one of our subjects, we apologize."

By Adrian Carrasquillo of NBC Latino and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.

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