Fitch rates the following floating-rate student loan-backed notes issued by SLM Student Loan Trust 2006-6:

* US$501,000,000 class A-1 ‘AAA’;
* US$280,000,000 class A-2 ‘AAA’;
* US$254,843,000 class A-3 ‘AAA’;
* EUR372,000,000 class A-4 ‘AAA’;
* US$46,666,000 class B ‘AAA’.

The ratings are based on the quality of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) student loan portfolio, the quality of the servicing provided by Sallie Mae Inc. (rated ABPS/S1 by Fitch), the transaction’s legal structure and level of credit enhancement. The ratings reflect the ability of the trust estate to pay note principal at the legal final maturity and timely interest. The ratings do not address the ability of the indenture trustee to auction the collateral pool prior to the stated maturity of the notes.

Credit enhancement for the trust consists of the initial overcollateralization and excess spread, a reserve account sized at 25 basis points (bps) of the current student loan pool balance with a floor of $2,261,609 or 15bps of the original student loan principal balance, and the $44,000,000 capitalized interest account. In addition, the class A notes benefit from 3% subordination provided by the class B notes.

The transaction has a senior subordinate structure with five classes of notes. Interest on the class A-1, A-2, A-3 and B notes is indexed to the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus a spread; interest on the class A-4 notes is indexed to three-month EURIBOR plus 0.15%. All of the notes pay quarterly commencing Oct. 25, 2006.

The collateral securing the notes are consolidation loans originated under the FFELP. The loans are guaranteed to at least 98% of principal and accrued interest by an eligible guarantor(s), depending on loan origination date, and are reinsured by the U.S. Department of Education up to the same amounts. Sallie Mae, Inc. will act as servicer for the loan portfolio.

Fitch’s rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency’s public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch’s code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the ‘Code of Conduct’ section of this site.

Contact:

Fitch Ratings, New York
Andrea Murad, 212-908-0896
Brendan Kerr, 212-908-0892
Sandro Scenga, 212-908-0278 (Media Relations)

Source: Fitch Ratings

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 23rd, 2006 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Education, Student Loan. Tags: Education, Loans, Student, Student Loan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.