Who is Sallie Mae?

For more than 30 years, Sallie Mae, the nation's leading provider of education funding, has helped millions of Americans achieve their dream of a higher education. The company primarily provides federally guaranteed student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and offers comprehensive information and resources to assist students, parents, and guidance professionals with the financial aid process. Through our subsidiaries and divisions, the company also provides debt-management services as well as business and technical products to a range of business clients, including colleges, universities, and loan guarantors.

Sallie Mae was created by Congress in 1972 as a government-sponsored enterprise. We began privatizing our operations in 1997, a process completed at the end of 2004 when we terminated our ties to the federal government. Sallie Mae remains the country's largest originator of federally insured student loans, issuing more than $15 billion annually. Sallie Mae:

• Manages nearly $127 billion in student loans for 10 million borrowers,
• Serves more than 6,000 schools nationwide; and
• Employs more than 10,000 people in 25 major locations across the country.

Learn more by reading our company fact sheet (PDF, 252 kb).