A week after the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority announced that it could not provide any student loans this fall, Gov. Deval L. Patrick has suggested a way to provide the nonprofit agency with capital to make new loans.

Governor Patrick, a Democrat, has asked the state pension fund to invest $50-million in a bond sale the troubled agency plans to issue this month, The Boston Globe reported. And he plans to call on Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts, and other institutions to do the same.

Officials of the pension board and the university promised to consider the proposal.

“We’re always more than happy to have discussions with the governor,” said John Longbrake, a spokesman for Harvard, told the Globe. “We welcome the opportunity to learn more about the challenges MEFA is facing and to discuss ways to address them.”

A spokesman for the University of Massachusetts’ president, Jack M. Wilson, said the institution was “definitely willing to explore.” The spokesman, Robert P. Connolly, told the Globe that system officials see the proposed investment “as a potential win-win, in terms of providing the university with a sound investment while helping families cope with their financial aid challenges.” —Charles Huckabee