After six months without having federal loans available to Massachusetts students, the state’s financing authority regained its funding and will be able to back federal Stafford Loans and private loans.

In April, college students faced financial uncertainty when the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority announced it could not finance federal Stafford Loans due to a collapse in the auction-rate bond market.

Raising the funds took longer than expected because of the recent economic crisis, MEFA spokeswoman Jessica Belt said.

“Money we’ve raised now will carry over to next semester and back to the capital markets,” she said. “It was much more challenging than expected, but we persevered and now there are loans available for this academic year.”

Belt said MEFA works to help students avoid financial crisis by advising and helping them find the best financial plan. MEFA only recommends itself as an aid option once all others have been seen through, she said.

“We haven’t heard of any cases where students couldn’t begin or return to school,” she said. “There was no real scare.”

Massachusetts Department of Higher Education spokeswoman Eileen O’Connor said the scare was exaggerated.

“When MEFA announced that they couldn’t access the capital markets, I’m sure colleges all over Boston were making preparations,” she said. “This didn’t really come as a surprise to Financial Aid groups considering the [economic] situation.”

Sallie Mae Financial Experts spokeswoman Erica Eriksdotter said Sallie Mae stood ready to fund eligible student loan applications during MEFA’s difficulties.

Eriksdotter said Sallie Mae will be the first company to receive funds under the Department of Education’s loan participation purchase program.

“This new program guarantees there will not be a shortage of federal student loans this year,” she said. “The president has yet to sign an extension of the program into law . . . It is on his way to him.”