[March 01, 2013]

Fitch to Rate Rhode Island Student Loan Auth. 2013 Senior Series A; Presale Issued

Fitch Ratings expects to rate Rhode Island Student Loan Auth. 2013 Senior Series A (2013A) student revenue bonds as follows:

--$2,000,000 2013A (Serial 2013) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$3,000,000 2013A (Serial 2014) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$3,000,000 2013A (Serial 2015) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$3,500,000 2013A (Serial 2016) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$3,500,000 2013A (Serial 2017) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$3,300,000 2013A (Serial 2018) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,850,000 2013A (Serial 2019) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,850,000 2013A (Serial 2020) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,900,000 2013A (Serial 2021) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,500,000 2013A (Serial 2022) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,500,000 2013A (Serial 2023) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,300,000 2013A (Serial 2024) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$5,125,000 2013A (Serial 2025) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable;

--$3,900,000 2013A (Serial 2026) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable.

--$3,400,000 2013A (Serial 2027) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable.

--$2,900,000 2013A (Serial 2028) 'Asf(EXP)'; Outlook Stable.

RATING DRIVERS

Adequate Collateral Quality: The master trust will be collateralized by existing fixed-rate private student loans originated with proceeds from earlier bond issuances, loans transferred from the 2004 trust, and new fixed-rate private student loans to be originated from deal closing to June 1, 2014. All loans have been credit tested, and have been or will be originated under the Rhode Island Family Education Loan (RIFEL) program, as described in Appendix A. Portfolio and securitization performance in terms of defaults and recoveries has been consistent with Fitch's expectations.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement (CE): Transaction cash flows were satisfactory under all stressed scenarios at Fitch's 'A' rating category. CE is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance) and excess spread. The parity ratio (total assets to total liabilities) is expected to be 110.51% at closing. Liquidity support will be provided by a capitalized interes fund and a debt service reserve fund.

Satisfactory Servicing Capabilities: RISLA will service all of the loans in the master trust. Fitch has reviewed the servicing operations of RISLA and views it to be an acceptable 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 than the base case. This will result in a decline in CE and remaining loss coverage levels available to the notes and may make certain note ratings susceptible to potential negative rating actions, depending on the extent of the decline in coverage.

Fitch evaluated the sensitivity of the ratings assigned to RISLA 2013-A to increased defaults, reduced recoveries and excess spread over the life of the transaction. Fitch's analysis found that the transaction displays some sensitivity to the above factors, showing a potential downgrade to 'BB' and 'B'. For further discussion of our sensitivity analysis and Fitch's stress analysis please see the presale titled 'Rhode Island Student Loan Authority 2013 Senior Series A', dated March. 1, 2013.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The ratings above were solicited by, or on behalf of, the issuer, and therefore, Fitch has been compensated for the provision of the ratings.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria', June 6, 2012;

--'U.S. Private Student Loan ABS (News - Alert) Criteria', Jan. 29, 2013.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research Rhode Island Student Loan Authority 2013 Senior Series A (US ABS)

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm rpt_id=702731

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

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 (News - Alert) 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.

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