Fitch Affirms Scholar Funding Trust 2011-B & 2010-A; Outlook Stable
OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings affirms the senior student loan notes at 'AAAsf' issued by Scholar Funding Trust 2011-B and Scholar Funding Trust 2010-A. The Rating Outlook on the notes is Stable. A full list of ratings actions follows at the end of this press release.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
High Collateral Quality: Both trusts' collateral consists of 100% rehab Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans. The credit quality of the trust collateral is high, in Fitch's opinion, based on the guarantees provided by the transaction's 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: Credit Enhancement (CE) is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance) and excess spread. As of the January 2016 servicer report, total parity was 106.38% for both Scholar Funding Trust 2011-B and Scholar Funding Trust 2010-A, which is both trusts' release level.
Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve fund sized at 0.25% of the bond balance, with a floor of $500,000, for both trusts.
Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. is the master servicer of both trusts, with Xerox-ES acting as sub-servicer. Fitch believes both servicers to be acceptable servicers of FFELP student loans.
On Nov. 18, 2015, Fitch released an exposure draft that 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 ratings:
Scholar Funding Trust 2011-B
--Class A at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.
Scholar Funding Trust 2010-A
--Class A at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.
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