What Is The History Of Sallie Mae?

What Is Sallie Mae?

It’s the nation’s leading provider of student loans and administrator of college savings plans, which has helped millions of Americans achieve their dream of a higher education. The company primarily provides federal and private student loans, including consolidation loans, for graduate students and their parents.

In addition, Sallie Mae offers comprehensive information and resources to help students and parents through their journey with professional guidance during this process. Sallie Mae owns and manages student loans for nearly 10 million customers. They administer more than $18 billion in college savings accounts for 1 million customers through the Upromise subsidiary and employs approximately 12,000 individuals at offices nationwide.

Sallie Mae operates their main servicing centers in the following cities and states: Gilbert, Arizona; Panama City, Florida; Indianapolis, Indiana; Mount Laurel, New Jersey; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Killeen, Texas, as well as 72 other offices throughout the United States.

Sallie Mae is listed on the Fortune 500 and is one of the Top Innovators in IT according to Information Week. The National Association also has recognized the company as one of the top 30 companies for executive women for Female Executives.

Where Is Sallie Mae’s Past?

The company remains the country’s largest originator of federally insured student loans. Through its specialized subsidiaries and divisions, Sallie Mae also provides debt management services as well as business and technical products to a range of business clients, colleges and loan guarantors.

The Student Loan Marketing Association was originally created in 1972 as a government sponsored enterprise and began privatizing its operations in 1997. In 2004 the Congress terminated the process by Federal charter. The company remains the country’s largest originator of federally insured student loans.

Through its specialized subsidiaries and divisions, Sallie Mae also provides debt management services as well as business and technical products to business clients, colleges, universities and loan guarantors.

In August 2006, Salle Mae acquired Upromise, a company that provides rebates to buyers of certain brands, which can be applied to college accounts. Sallie Mae and Upromise plan to market comprehensive financial packages to parents and students, for financial aid information and student loans.

The company primarily provides federally guaranteed student loans originated under the
‘Federal Family Education Loan Program’ (FFELP) and offers resources to assist students, parents, and guidance professionals with the financial aid process.

The Controversies Of The Sallie Mae Program

In February 2007, New York Attorney General launched an investigation into alleged deceptive lending practices by student loan provides. At the end of the investigation Sallie Mae announced that they voluntarily agreed to change its lending standards to satisfy a new code of conduct for student loan practices and donate $2 million to a fund devoted to college bound students.

Many Internet sites document problems with Sallie Mae customer service and repeated telephone calls. Sallie Mae is extremely aggressive in its collection procedures.

Also, Sallie Mae is exempt from many fair debt collection practices due to extensive lobbying. This includes taking on huge penalties that can quadruple the amount they can collect as well as exemption from standard withholding practices.