Sallie Mae (Student Loan Marketing Association)

What is ‘Sallie Mae – Student Loan Marketing Association’

Sallie Mae is a publicly traded company that is the largest provider of education loans in the United States, as of 2016. Along with providing student loans, Sallie Mae purchases student loans from original lenders and provides financing to state-based student-loan agencies.

Explaining ‘Sallie Mae – Student Loan Marketing Association’

Sallie Mae is formally known as SLM Corporation, which stands for the Student Loan Marketing Association. The structure and operations of Sallie Mae have drastically changed since its founding. It began as a government entity providing federal education loans to students, and originating federally guaranteed student loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). It acted as both a servicer and collector of federal student loans on behalf of the Department of Education. In time, Sallie Mae went private, beginning the privatization process in 1994 and becoming fully privatized in 2004.

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