Fitch Upgrades National Collegiate Trust 2006-A

Fitch Ratings has taken the following rating actions on National Collegiate Trust 2006-A:

--Class A-2 upgraded to 'AAsf' from 'Asf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;

--Class B upgraded to 'Bsf' from 'CCsf'; assigned Outlook Stable.

The upgrade on the senior and subordinate notes is due to improved performance, revised default projection and higher loss coverage multiples. Although Fitch's analysis indicated a higher rating for class A-2 notes, Fitch decided to upgrade the notes only to 'AAsf' due to lack of granular data and concerns for future performance volatility.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Adequate Collateral Quality: The trust is collateralized by approximately $56.2 million of private student loans of which approximately 80.8% of the loans were originated by the Bank of America under the GATE program and the remainder of the loans were originated by CHELA Funding II, LLC. The projected remaining defaults are expected to range between 8%-12% as a percentage of current principal balance. A recovery rate of approximately 30% was applied in the analysis commensurate with 'Asf' and lower rating stress scenarios based on data provided by the issuer and included credit to the guarantee provided by Bank of America on loans originated pursuant to the GATE Program. A 0% recovery rate was assumed in 'AAsf' or higher rating stress scenarios. Although a portion of the CHELA portfolio is guaranteed by The Education Resources Institute (TERI), no credit was given to the TERI guaranty since TERI filed for bankruptcy on April 7, 2008.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement is provided by overcollateralization and excess spread. The class A notes also benefit from subordination from the class B notes. As of the August 2015 distribution senior and total parity is 207.2% and 104.2% respectively. Cash may be released from the trust at the greater of (i) 104% total parity, and (ii) the percentage equivalent of (outstanding notes +$5,300,000)/ (outstanding notes), currently 109%. No cash is currently being released from the trust.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support for the notes is provided by a reserve account, which is currently at $1 million.

Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: The portfolio is serviced by American Education Services (AES), Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc., ACS Education Services (ACS), First Mark Services LLC and Nelnet Servicing, LLC. Fitch believes all servicers are acceptable servicers of private student loans.

Under Fitch's 'Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds', dated June 18, 2016, Fitch looks to its own ratings in analyzing counterparty risk and assessing a counterparty's creditworthiness. The definition of permitted investments for this deal allows for the possibility of using investments not rated by Fitch, which represents a criteria variation. Fitch doesn't believe such variation has a measurable impact upon the ratings assigned.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

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 than the base case. This will result in a decline in CE and remaining loss coverage levels available to the bonds and may make certain bond ratings susceptible to potential negative rating actions, depending on the extent of the decline in coverage. Fitch will continue to monitor the performance of the trust

USE OF THIRD-PARTY DUE DILIGENCE PURSUANT TO SEC RULE 17G-10 Form ABS Due Diligence-15E was not provided to Fitch, or reviewed by Fitch in relation to this rating action.

Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.

Applicable Criteria

Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds (pub. 01 Sep 2016)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/886006

Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions and Covered Bonds (pub. 17 May 2016)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/879815

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria (pub. 27 Jun 2016)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/883130

U.S. Private Student Loan ABS Criteria (pub. 31 Jul 2015)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/868836

Additional Disclosures

Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1012097

Solicitation Status

https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1012097

Endorsement Policy

https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE '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. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160923005413/en/