[November 20, 2014]

Fitch Affirms SLM Student Loan Trust 2006-3

Fitch Ratings affirms SLM Student Loan Trust 2006-3 senior and subordinate notes at 'AAAsf' and 'AA-sf', respectively. The Rating Outlook remains Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

High Collateral Quality: The trust collateral is comprised of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans with guaranties provided by eligible guarantors and reinsurance provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for at least 97% of principal and accrued interest. Fitch's current U.S. sovereign rating is 'AAA' with a Stable Rating Outlook.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement (CE) is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance), excess spread, and for the class A notes, subordination provided by the class B notes. The trust, below the 40% pool factor threshold, can release cash as long as total parity, not including the reserve account, is 100.00%. The trust has been releasing cash and maintaining this parity level. Including the reserve account, total and senior parities are 100.63% and 125.09% respectively.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support for the notes is provided by a reserve fund sized at the greater of 0.25% of the pool balance of the loans and $2,502,119. The reserve fund is sized at the floor of $2,502,119 as of September 2014.

Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: Navient Solutions, Inc. (formerly known as Sallie Mae, Inc.) is the servicer of the trust's student loan pool. In Fitch's opinion, Navient Solutions, Inc. is an acceptable servicer of FFELP student loans.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Since the FFELP student loan ABS (News - Alert) relies 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 CE driven b positive excess spread given favorable basis factor conditions could lead to future upgrades.

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:

SLM Student Loan Trust 2006-3:

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

--Class A-5 at 'AAAsf', Outlook Stable;

--Class B at 'AA-sf'; Outlook Stable.

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

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (Aug. 4, 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=930116

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