While college-bound students in Massachusetts and elsewhere have struggled to secure private loans for the coming school year, Maine students have largely been able to escape those worries.

A tight national credit market has complicated the efforts of some state lending authorities to secure the funding needed to issue private student loans.

And while the Maine Educational Loan Authority did not have access this year to its conventional funding sources, Maine Education Services President and CEO Darren Hurlburt said, the non-profit organization forged an alternate solution.

The lending authority, which is managed by Maine Education Services, secured financing from TD Bank and used proceeds remaining from previous bond issues, Hurlburt said.

"MELA was not immune from the situation other entities were having," he said. But "MELA was one of the fortunate ones that was able to find alternative financing this year."