Massachusetts is the latest state unable to provide low-interest private and federal loans to its college students — a problem Rhode Island was able to avoid this year.

On Monday, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority announced that it had ended its private loan service, which accounted for 80 percent of its business last year. This spring, the authority stopped offering federal Stafford loans because the agency failed to raise money to secure the loans.

About 40,000 college students were left scrambling for financing, just as the first round of college bills arrived.

Foresight and planning helped the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority avoid the same fate.

RISLA, which provides low-interest-rate loans to students attending college in Rhode Island and native Rhode Islanders who study elsewhere, was able to secure financing and will continue to provide both private and federally backed loans, according to officials at the authority.

Rhode Island was able to secure $64 million in financing earlier this year, and is one of only two states — Texas is the other — to offer new low-interest private loans. The authority was also able to secure financing for federally backed Stafford loans, both subsidized and unsubsidized, and federal parent PLUS loans.

“When we saw how things were falling apart in January and February, we worked to lock up financing,” said executive director Charles Kelley. “We want people to know we are here and they can call us for information.”

Besides Massachusetts, eight other state loan agencies have stopped issuing private or federal loans this year, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Agencies in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania were forced to discontinue some of their loan programs, although Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire say they will resume lending later this year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

It’s a national problem. The scandals that plagued the student loan industry last year and sparked congressional investigations resulted in the College Cost Reduction Act, which reduced how much lenders can make on the loans.

In addition, the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the slumping economy have contributed to the problem, said Noel F. Simpson, chief financial officer for the RISLA.

Parents who had relied on home-equity loans to help finance their children’s college education’s are finding that door is now closed to them as the value of their homes decline, Simpson said.

“In the past, it was an important source of funds for parents,” Simpson said. “Now, this is no longer a source of funding.”

RISLA has also been affected by the troubles in the student loan industry. The nonprofit agency lost roughly $1 million when the federal government reduced the amount lenders can make from the loans.

In response, the authority has discontinued some low-interest loans and loan-forgiveness programs targeted toward students in the education and nursing fields, Simpson said. In addition, a variable-rate private loan program has been eliminated this year.

RISLA plans to provide about $254 million in loans for the coming academic year, roughly the same amount the authority provided last year, Simpson said. About $130 million will finance federal Stafford loans to 25,000 students — both subsidized loans offered at a 6-percent interest rate, and unsubsidized loans at 6.8 percent. Another $60 million goes to federal parent PLUS loans, at 7.9-percent interest.

About 7,000 parents take out the PLUS loans, Simpson said. In addition, the authority’s private loan program, called the Rhode Island Family Education Loan, has a fixed interest rate of 7.74 percent.

RISLA will continue to pay a 1-percent loan guarantee fee and a 1-percent origination fee on all Stafford loans, saving students and their families an estimated $2.6 million a year.

RISLA encourages students and families who have questions or who are seeking loans to call (800) 758-7562 for more information.

With reports from the Associated Press

jjordan@projo.com