Morningstar DBRS Assigns Provisional Credit Ratings to MPOWER Education Trust 2025-A

DBRS, Inc. (Morningstar DBRS) assigned provisional credit ratings to the following classes of notes (the Notes) to be issued by MPOWER Education Trust 2025-A (MPOWER 2025-A):

-- $247,200,000 Class A Notes at (P) A (sf)
-- $43,400,000 Class B Notes at (P) BBB (sf)
-- $7,000,000 Class C Notes at (P) BB (low) (sf)

CREDIT RATING RATIONALE/DESCRIPTION
Morningstar DBRS' provisional credit ratings on the Notes are based upon a review by Morningstar DBRS of the following analytical considerations:

(1) The transaction's capital structure and the form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
-- Overcollateralization, subordination, the Reserve Account, and excess spread create credit enhancement levels that are commensurate with the provisional credit ratings.
-- Transaction cash flows are sufficient to repay investors under all credit rating stress scenarios in accordance with the terms of the MPOWER 2025-A transaction documents.

(2) The quality and credit characteristics of the student loan borrowers.

(3) Structural features of the transaction that require the Notes to enter into full turbo principal amortization if performance deteriorates.

(4) The experience, origination and underwriting capabilities of MPOWER Financing, Public Benefit Corporation (MPOWER) and its bank partner.
-- Morningstar DBRS has performed an operational assessment of MPOWER and considers MPOWER, and via its bank partnership with Bank of Lake Mills, an acceptable originator of private student loans.

(5) The ability of the Subservicer to perform collections on the collateral pool and other required activities.
-- Morningstar DBRS has performed an operational assessment of Launch Servicing, LLC and considers the entity to be an acceptable subservicer of private student loans.

(6) The legal structure and expected legal opinions that will address the true sale of the student loans, the nonconsolidation of the trust, that the indenture trustee has a valid and perfected security interest in the assets, and the consistency with the Morningstar DBRS' "Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance."

(7) The transaction assumptions consider Morningstar DBRS' baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereign economies, available in its commentary "Baseline Macroeconomic Scenarios for Rated Sovereigns: March 2025 Update," published on March 26, 2025. These baseline macroeconomic scenarios replace Morningstar DBRS' moderate and adverse COVID-19 pandemic scenarios, which were first published in April 2020.

Morningstar DBRS' credit ratings on the securities referenced herein address the credit risk associated with the identified financial obligations in accordance with the relevant transaction documents. The associated financial obligations are the related Noteholders' Interest Distribution Amount and the related Outstanding Principal Amount.

Morningstar DBRS' credit ratings do not address nonpayment risk associated with contractual payment obligations contemplated in the applicable transaction document(s) that are not financial obligations. For example, the associated contractual payment obligation that is not a financial obligation for each of the rated notes is the related interest on any unpaid Noteholders' Interest Distribution Amount.

Morningstar DBRS' long-term credit ratings provide opinions on risk of default. Morningstar DBRS considers risk of default to be the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy the financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which a long-term obligation has been issued.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factors that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

A description of how Morningstar DBRS considers ESG factors within the Morningstar DBRS analytical framework can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (August 13, 2024) at https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/437781.

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

The principal methodology applicable to the credit ratings is Rating U.S. Private Student Loan Securitizations (November 11, 2024) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/442835.

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

The credit rating was initiated at the request of the rated entity.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the credit rating process for this credit rating action.

Morningstar DBRS had access to the accounts, management, and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this credit rating action.

This is a solicited credit rating.

For more information on Morningstar DBRS' policy regarding the solicitation status of credit ratings, please refer to the Credit Ratings Global Policy, which can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Understanding Ratings section of the website: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/understanding-ratings

A provisional credit rating is not a final credit rating with respect to the above-mentioned securities and may change or be different than the final credit rating assigned or may be discontinued. The assignment of final credit ratings on the above-mentioned securities is subject to receipt by Morningstar DBRS of all data and/or information and final documentation that Morningstar DBRS deems necessary to finalize the credit ratings.

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

DBRS, Inc.
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New York, NY 10005 USA
Tel. +1 212 806-3277

The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- Operational Risk Assessment for U.S. ABS Originators and Servicers (March 26, 2025)
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/450709
-- Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance (December 3, 2024)
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/444064

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit https://dbrs.morningstar.com or contact us at info-DBRS@morningstar.com.