Fitch: U.S. Student Loan ABS Receives Mixed Marks in Latest Report Card

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch's recently published Student Loan Report Card newsletter shows mixed grades for student loan ABS over the past six months. The credit performance of FFELP student loan transactions received high grades as few negative and numerous positive rating actions took place. At the same time, transactions that issued a significant amount of auction-rate securities are passing for now but may have issues if alternatives are not developed in the near to mid-term.

The capital markets have put a difficult test in front of many issuers and those who fail may be left back to consider new business plans, particularly with regard to private student funding. Legislators and regulators are regularly introducing new concepts to address these issues with market participants learning at different speeds. Meanwhile, the U.S. consumer's performance is still being evaluated as economic pressures mount. Despite such turmoil, student loan transactions are generally performing within Fitch's expectations.

Fitch's Student Loan Report Card discusses these challenges in-depth with articles on the direction of Fitch's student loan indices, a macroeconomic consumer update, and an update on the state of TERI's bankruptcy proceedings. In addition, the newsletter includes a summary of active legislation, a description of Fitch's recent student loan ABS rating actions as well as a listing of all Fitch rated student loan transactions in the quarter.

'The Student Loan Report Card' is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com under the following headers:

Structured Finance then ABS then Newsletters

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.