Fitch Affirms SLM Student Loan Trust 2004-4 Ratings

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the senior and subordinate notes for SLM Student Loan Trust 2004-4 at 'AAAsf'. The Rating Outlook remains Stable for all classes.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

High Collateral Quality: The trust collateral consists of 100% of 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. sovereign at 'AAA' with a Stable Outlook.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit Enhancement is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance) and excess spread. In addition, the class A notes benefit from subordination from the class B notes. As of June 2014, Fitch's calculated senior and total parity, which include the reserve account are 219.47% and 105.86%, respectively. In addition, the current pool factor is 6.1%, below the 10% pool factor and as such all notes must be paid in full prior to any cash release.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve account. The reserve is sized equal to the greater of 0.25% of the pool balance, and $4,509,772.

Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: Navient Solutions, Inc. (formerly known as Sallie Mae, Inc.), as servicer, will be responsible for servicing the portfolio. Fitch has reviewed the servicing operations of Navient Solutions and believes it to be acceptable servicer of FFELP student loans.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Since FFELP student loan ABS rely 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 and basis risk account for the majority of the risk embedded in FFELP student loan transactions. Additional defaults and basis shock beyond Fitch's published stresses could result in future downgrades. Likewise, a buildup of credit enhancement driven by positive excess spread given favorable basis factor conditions could lead to future upgrades.

Fitch has affirmed the following:

SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2004-4:

--Class A-4 at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class B at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (May 20, 2014);

--'Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria' (June 23, 2014).

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=754389

Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=750530

Additional Disclosure

Solicitation Status

http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=861214

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