OREANDA-NEWS. May 13, 2016. Fitch Ratings affirms the ratings of Goal Capital Funding Trust, Series 2006-1 senior notes at 'AAAsf' and the subordinate notes at 'A+sf'. The Rating Outlook remains Stable for all notes.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
Collateral Quality: The trust collateral consists of 100% FFELP student loans. In Fitch's opinion, the credit quality of the trust collateral is high based on the guarantees provided by the transaction's eligible guarantors and the reinsurance provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for at least 97% of principal and accrued interest for the FFELP loans.

Credit Enhancement (CE): CE is provided by overcollateralization (OC), or the excess of the trust's asset balance over the note principal balance and excess spread. As of March 2016, total parity is 102.14% and senior parity is 107.09%. Since total parity exceeds the cash release threshold of 100.25%, the trust is releasing cash.

Liquidity Support: Liquidity is provided by a reserve account sized at the greater 0.25% of the current pool balance and \\$2.9 million, the reserve account floor.

Servicing Capabilities: Day-to-day servicing is provided by AES, a servicing division of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) and ACS Education, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox Educations Services LLC. Fitch believes that both are acceptable servicers of FFELP student loans.

On Nov. 18, 2015, Fitch released its exposure draft which delineates revisions it plans to make to the 'Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria', dated June 23, 2014. Fitch has reviewed this transaction under both the existing and proposed criteria.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Since the FFELP student loan ABS 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, basis risk, and loan extension risk account for the majority of the risk embedded in FFELP student loan transactions. Additional defaults, basis shock beyond Fitch's published stresses, lower than expected payment speed, and other factors could result in future downgrades. Likewise, a buildup of CE driven by positive excess spread given favorable basis factor conditions could lead to future upgrades.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE
No third party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:

Goal Capital Funding Trust, Series 2006-1:
--Class A-3 notes at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class A-4 notes at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class A-5 notes at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class A-6 notes at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class B notes at 'A+sf'; Outlook Stable.