"Turmoil in the financial markets has driven many lenders out of the student loan market, leaving students struggling to pay their fall tuition. That's a problem that New Hampshire officials are working on," the Associated Press reports. "Many students 'are being frozen out from having the loans they were expecting,' said Mark Connolly, director of the state Bureau of Securities Regulation. 'In the last several days, our office has been engaged in discussions with some of the participants who have been involved in securitizing these loans in our state,' Connolly said Wednesday. 'We are trying to encourage these participants to bring liquidity to these loans so students can plan for their academic year. If we are unable to successfully encourage these participants to bring liquidity to our student loan market, we will take regulatory action that in part will address the issue,' Connolly said. Connolly said his office has been involved with many other states in looking at the auction-rate securities market -- short-term investments that are a popular way for companies and some wealthy investors to store their cash -- which has rippled into the student loan market."