OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings assigns ratings to SMB Private Education Loan Trust 2016-B as follows:

--$184,000,000 class A-1 notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--$259,000,000 class A-2A notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--$164,000,000 class A-2B notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--$50,000,000 class B notes 'Asf'; Outlook Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Strong Collateral Quality: The 2016-B trust pool consists of credit-tested private student loans originated under SMB's private student loan programs and underwritten to the respective guidelines. As of the May 30, 2016 statistical cutoff date, the weighted average (WA) Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) score at origination was 747; 95% of the loans in the pool were made to four-year schools; 92% of the loans in the pool were co-signed; and none of the loans were more than 30 days past due or involved in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Fitch assigned a WA base case default rate of 12.2% for the statistical pool. Additionally, a recovery rate of 13% was applied, based on the data provided by SMB.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement (CE): Transaction cash flows were satisfactory under all stressed scenarios at Fitch's 'AAAsf' and 'Asf' rating categories. CE is provided by overcollateralization (OC) and excess spread, and, for class A notes, the subordination of class B notes. The initial CE (including the reserve account) for the senior and subordinate notes is expected to be 19.05% and 12.36%, respectively. Funds cannot be released from the trust unless the OC (excluding the reserve fund) builds up to 30% of the outstanding pool balance or 11% of the initial pool balance, whichever is higher.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve account, which will be fully funded at closing at 0.25% of the initial pool balance and maintained at a balance equal to the lesser of $1,868,916 or the aggregate outstanding balance of the note. As of the statistical cutoff date, approximately 64% of the loans were required to make repayments.

Satisfactory Servicing Capabilities: Sallie Mae Bank will service all the loans in the 2016-B trust. Fitch has reviewed the servicing operations of Sallie Mae Bank and considers it to be an effective private student loan servicer.

Satisfactory Servicing Capabilities: Sallie Mae Bank will service all the loans in the 2016-B trust. Fitch has reviewed the servicing operations of Sallie Mae Bank and considers it to be an effective private student loan servicer.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

As Fitch's base case default proxy is derived primarily from historical collateral performance, actual performance may differ from the expected performance, resulting in higher loss levels and/or prepayment speeds than the base case. This will result in a decline in available CE and the remaining loss coverage levels available to the notes. Therefore, note ratings may be susceptible to potential negative rating actions, depending on the extent of the decline in the coverage.

Rating sensitivity results should only be considered as one potential outcome, as the transaction is exposed to multiple dynamic risk factors. Rating sensitivity should not be used as an indicator of future rating performance.

Key Rating Drivers and Rating Sensitivities are further described in the pre-sale report titled 'SMB Private Education Loan Trust 2016-B', dated July 11, 2016, on www. fitchratings. com.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

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

Fitch's analysis of the Representations and Warranties (R&W) of this transaction can be found in SMB Private Education Loan Trust 2016-A - Appendix'. These R&Ws are compared to those of typical R&W for the asset class as detailed in the special report 'Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms in Global Structured Finance Transactions' dated May 31, 2016.