DBRS Assigns Provisional Rating to Navient Student Loan Trust 2016-7

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) has today assigned a provisional rating of AAA (sf) to the Class A Notes (the Notes) issued by Navient Student Loan Trust 2016-7 (Navient 2016-7). The DBRS rating of the Notes addresses the timely payment of interest and the full payment of principal in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Navient 2016-7 transaction documents.

The provisional rating is based on DBRS’s review of the following analytical considerations:

-- The transaction’s form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
-- The ability of the Servicer to perform collections on the collateral pool and other required activities.
-- The legal structure and legal opinions that will address the true sale of the student loans, the non-consolidation of the trust, that the trust has a valid first-priority security interest in the assets and the consistency with the DBRS “Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance” methodology.

Transaction Description:
-- $896,000,000 Floating-Rate Class A Notes rated AAA (sf)

The collateral securing Navient 2016-7 will consist of student loans originated pursuant to the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which are guaranteed to at least 97% of principal plus accrued interest. Navient Solutions will service 100% of the loans.

The Notes will bear interest based on one-month LIBOR plus a margin that will be determined at pricing and will be paid on a monthly basis beginning on the distribution date in December 2016. Principal will be paid to the Notes until the Notes are paid in full.

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodology is Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Securitizations, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process. DBRS had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities.

Please see the attached appendix for additional information regarding sensitivity of assumptions used in the rating process.

The full report providing additional information and analytical detail is available by clicking on the link under Related Research at the right of the screen or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrs.com or contact us at info@dbrs.com.