AAA rating affirmed on RISLA 2008 Bonds

Warwick, RI – January 31, 2012…Fitch Ratings has affirmed the AAA rating on Rhode Island Student Loan Authority’s 2008 bond issue and upgraded the outlook to stable, citing that the “trust is performing in-line with expectations.”

On the same day, Fitch Ratings downgraded the ratings on five countries including Belgium, Spain, and Italy to AA, A, and, A- respectively and assigned a negative outlook to all of them.

Charles P. Kelley, Executive Director of the Student Loan Authority, attributed the maintenance of the AAA rating on these senior notes to “the financial literacy programs it conducts to help prevent students and families from over-borrowing, a low fixed interest rate, and proactive default prevention measures.”

The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) is a non-profit state authority providing $25 million annually in low cost, safe education loans to students and families. Less than 2% of RISLA’s Rhode Island Family Education Loans that have entered repayment have defaulted over an 18 year history. Additional information is available at www.risla.com.

RISLA 2008 Bonds Affirmed AAA

AAA rating affirmed on RISLA 2008 Bonds