Fitch Rates SLM Private Education Loan Trust 2013-B

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings assigns ratings to the private education loan-backed notes issued by SLM Private Education Loan Trust 2013-B as follows:

--$680,000,000 class A-1 notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable
--$245,000,000 class A-2A notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable
--$100,000,000 class A-2B notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable
--$110,000,000 class B notes 'Asf'; Outlook Stable

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Adequate Collateral Quality: The 2013-B trust pool consists of credit-tested private student loans originated under SLM's private student loan programs and underwritten to the respective guidelines. As of the Feb. 27, 2013 statistical cutoff date, the weighted average Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) score at origination was 740; 95% of the loans in the pool were made to four-year schools, and 80% of the loans in the pool were co-signed; and none of the loans were more than 30 days past due or involved in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Transaction cash flows were satisfactory under all stressed scenarios at Fitch Ratings' 'AAAsf' and 'Asf' rating categories. Credit enhancement (CE) is provided by overcollateralization (OC) and excess spread, and, for class A notes, the subordination of class B notes. The initial CE for the senior and subordinate notes is expected to be approximately 21.7% and 13.3%, respectively. Funds cannot be used to pay any unpaid trustee fees and expenses or carryover servicing fees, unless the total OC builds up to 40% of the outstanding pool balance or 1% of the initial pool balance, whichever is higher.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve account, which will be fully funded at closing and maintained at $2.45 million, or 0.25% of the initial pool balance. As of the statistical cutoff date, 91.2% of the loans were required to make repayments, of which 60.2% (mostly Smart Option loans) were required to make either interest-only or fixed payments of $25 during the in-school, grace or deferment period.

Satisfactory Servicing Capabilities: Sallie Mae Inc., a subsidiary of SLM, will service all the loans in the 2013-B trust. Fitch has reviewed the servicing operations of Sallie Mae and considers it an effective private student loan servicer.

RATING SENSITIVITY

As Fitch's base case default proxy is derived primarily from historical collateral performance, actual performance may differ from the expected performance, resulting in higher loss levels and/or prepayment speeds than the base case. This will result in a decline in available CE and the remaining loss coverage levels available to the notes. Therefore, note ratings may be susceptible to potential negative rating actions, depending on the extent of the decline in the coverage.

Rating sensitivity results should only be considered as one potential outcome, as the transaction is exposed to multiple dynamic risk factors. Rating sensitivity should not be used as an indicator of future rating performance.

Fitch's stress analysis is discussed in the presale titled 'SLM Private Education Loan Trust 2013-B', dated April 23, 2013.

The presale report is available to all investors on Fitch's website at www.fitchratings.com. For more information about Fitch's comprehensive subscription service Fitch Research, which includes all presale reports, surveillance, and credit reports on more than 20 asset classes, contact product sales at [phone] or at [e-mail].

Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (June 6, 2012);
--'U.S. Private Student Loan ABS Criteria' (Jan. 29, 2013);
--'Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions and Covered Bonds' (Jan. 25, 2013);
--'Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance Transactions' (May 30, 2012);
--'Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance Transactions: Derivative Addendum' (May 30, 2012);
--'Representations, Warranties and Enforcement Mechanism in Global Structure Finance Transactions' (April 17, 2012)

Applicable Criteria and Related Research
Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=679923
U.S. Private Student Loan ABS Criteria
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=698293
Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=695535
Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance Transactions
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=678938
Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance Transactions: Derivative Addendum
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=678939
Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms in Global Structured Finance Transactions -- Amended
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=676496

Additional Disclosure
Solicitation Status
http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=790297
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