DBRS Finalizes Provisional Ratings on Laurel Road Prime Student Loan Trust 2017-C

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) finalized its provisional ratings on the following classes of notes (the Notes) issued by Laurel Road Prime Student Loan Trust 2017-C (Laurel Road 2017-C):

-- $33,175,000 Class A-1 rated AAA (sf)
-- $59,800,000 Class A-2A rated AAA (sf)
-- $175,236,000 Class A-2B rated AAA (sf)
-- $22,677,000 Class B rated AA (sf)
-- $9,383,000 Class C rated A (sf)

The finalized ratings are based on a review by DBRS of the following analytical considerations:

-- The transaction’s form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
-- The quality and credit characteristics of the student loan borrowers.
-- Structural features of the transaction that require the Class A-1 Notes, Class A-2A Notes and Class A-2B Notes (together, the Class A Notes) to enter into full turbo principal amortization if certain performance triggers are breached or if credit enhancement deteriorates.
-- Laurel Road’s capabilities with regard to originations and underwriting.
-- The ability of the Servicer to perform collections on the collateral pool and other required activities.
-- The legal structure and legal opinions that 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.”

The Notes are backed by loans originated through Laurel Road’s private student loan refinancing program (Refinancing Loans). The variable-rate Class A-1 Notes are primarily secured by a group of variable-rate Refinancing Loans. The fixed-rate Class A-2A Notes and Class A-2B Notes (together, the Class A-2 Notes) are primarily secured by a group of fixed-rate Refinancing Loans. The Class B Notes and Class C Notes are primarily secured by both variable-rate and fixed-rate Refinancing Loans.

Credit enhancement for Laurel Road 2017-C consists of overcollateralization, separate reserve accounts for the Class A-1 Notes and Class A-2 Notes, separate liquidity accounts for the Class B Notes and Class C Notes, subordination provided by the Class B Notes and Class C Notes for the benefit of the Class A Notes, subordination provided by the Class C Notes for the benefit of the Class B Notes, excess spread, limited cross-collateralization for the Class A Notes and full cross-collateralization for the Class B Notes and Class C Notes.

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

The principal methodology is Rating U.S. Private Student Loan Securitizations, which can be found on dbrs.com 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 the sensitivity of assumptions used in the rating process.

The full report providing additional 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.