OREANDA-NEWS. More-->S&P Global Ratings today raised its rating on one bond maturing April 1, 2037, from North Texas Higher Education Authority series 2010-2 to 'AAA (sf)' from 'AA+ (sf)'. North Texas Higher Education Authority is an asset-backed securities (ABS) transaction backed by a pool of Stafford and Consolidation student loans originated through the U. S. Department of Education's (ED's) Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). The upgrade reflects our expectation regarding collateral performance and our view that the current credit enhancement is sufficient to absorb the 15% haircut to the cash inflows received under a 'AAA' stress scenario per our criteria.

CURRENT CAPITAL STRUCTURE Series 2010-2 has a full turbo pay structure; therefore, excess cash will not be released to the issuer. The bonds receive quarterly distributions of principal and interest payments. The current capital structure, as of May 2016, follows:

PAYMENT STRUCTUREThe transaction uses all remaining available funds after required payments to the ED, senior fees, interest payments, principal distribution amount, deposits to the reserve account, and subordinate and carryover fees and expenses if necessary, to make principal payments until the bonds are repaid. Accordingly, no amounts will be released to the issuer until the bonds are retired. We expect this turbo feature to increase overcollateralization during the transaction's life.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENTThe bond benefits from a reserve account, overcollateralization, and excess spread. The reserve fund is at its required level of the greater of 50 basis points of the pool balance and $500,000. This fund is available to be used for principal and interest payments on the bond when due.

Overcollateralization, as measured by parity (defined as total assets divided by the total bond balance), has increased since the bond was issued in 2010. The increase is primarily due to the use of excess spread to pay down the series 2010-2 bonds. The increase in parity over the past two years is 6.81%.COLLATERALThe transaction primarily comprises Stafford, Consolidation, and Parent Loan for Undergraduate Student (PLUS) loans that are supported by a guaranty from the ED of at least 97%. The loan mix in the collateral pool as of the most recent quarterly servicer report for the period ended May 2016 was 32% Stafford loans and 67.50% Consolidation loans, with the remainder consisting of SLS and PLUS loans.

As of closing, approximately 69% of the collateral pool consisted of floor income loans, which we view favorably because they allow the transaction to retain borrower interest exceeding the special allowance payment rate paid by the ED, which can increase excess spread in a low interest rate environment.

LOAN STATUS Since our last review, the amount of loans in nonpaying status (in school/grace, deferment, delinquencies and forbearance) has declined. While in a nonpaying status, unpaid interest owed by the students is accrued and capitalized into the loan balance. As of the most recent quarter's servicer report, approximately 81.15% of the loan pool is currently in repayment, up from 79.47% as of July 2014. The remaining loans in the pool are to borrowers that are in a nonpaying status. Based on the historical principal paydown of the bonds and the transaction's full turbo feature, we expect the series 2010-2 bonds to be paid in full before their legal final maturity date.

We will continue to monitor the performance of the student loan receivables backing the transaction relative to our rating and the available credit enhancement to the bonds.