OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings affirms the senior student loan notes at 'AAAsf' issued by Arkansas Student Loan Authority Series 2010-1. The Rating Outlook remains Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

High Collateral Quality: The trust collateral is comprised of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans with guaranties provided by eligible guarantors and reinsurance provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for at least 97% of principal and accrued interest. Fitch currently rates the U.S. 'AAA' with a Stable Outlook.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement (CE): CE is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance) and excess spread. As of February 2016, parity is at 116.26%. Additionally, the trust is in turbo and no cash will be released until all notes have been paid in full.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a Debt Service Reserve Fund currently sized at $500,000 (0.25% of the bond balance, with a floor of $500,000)

Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: Day-to-day servicing is provided by EdFinancial (89.35% of principal balance) and Nelnet (remaining 10.65%), with PHEAA acting as back up servicer for EdFinancial. Both servicers have demonstrated adequate servicing capabilities, according to Fitch.

On Nov. 18, 2015, Fitch released its exposure draft which delineates revisions it plans to make to the 'Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria', dated June 23, 2014. Fitch has reviewed this transaction under both the existing and proposed criteria.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Since the FFELP student loan ABS relies on the U.S. government to reimburse defaults, 'AAAsf' FFELP ABS ratings will likely move in tandem with the 'AAA' U.S. sovereign rating. Aside from the U.S. sovereign rating, defaults, basis risk, and loan extension risk account for the majority of the risk embedded in FFELP student loan transactions. Additional defaults, basis shock beyond Fitch's published stresses, lower than expected payment speed, and other factors could result in future downgrades. Likewise, a buildup of CE driven by positive excess spread given favorable basis factor conditions could lead to future upgrades.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE
No third party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

Fitch has affirmed the following rating:

Arkansas Student Loan Authority Series 2010-1

--Class A at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.