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Fitch Affirms NTHEA Series 2010-1's Senior Notes
[December 30, 2014]

Fitch Affirms NTHEA Series 2010-1's Senior Notes


Fitch Ratings has affirmed the series 2010-1 student loan revenue bonds issued by North Texas Higher Education Authority, Inc. at 'AAAsf'.

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. 'AAA' with a Stable Outlook.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: CE is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance) and excess spread. As of the October 2014 distribution, total reported parity is 117.53%.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support for note is provided by a reserve account. The reserve is sized equal to the greater of 1% of the pool balance, and $500,000.

Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: Higher Education Servicing Corporation (HESC) is the master servicer and provides day-to-day servicing for approximately 58% of the loans being securitized. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency is the backup servicer for those loans serviced by HESC. Day-to-day servicing for the remainder of the portfolio is provided by Edfinancial Services, LLC (27%) and Nelnet Servicing, LLC (15%). All servicers have demonstrated adequate servicing capabilities.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Since FFELP student loan ABS (News - Alert) 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 facto conditions could lead to future upgrades.



Fitch has affirmed the following:

North Texas Higher Education Authority, Inc. May 1, 2010 Indenture Series 2010-1:


--A-1 bond at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--A-2 bond at 'AAAsf'; 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=962695

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. 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.


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