Sallie Mae Announces New $6.8 Billion Credit Facility, Eliminates Conduit Financing Six Months Ahead of Schedule

Sallie Mae today announced that it closed a new $6.8 billion credit facility to facilitate term securitization of its federally guaranteed (FFELP) loans. The facility was oversubscribed by a syndicate of eight global financial institutions. The facility is secured exclusively by FFELP loans and will amortize over a one-year period. Its size exceeds the balance remaining in the company's Straight A federally sponsored financing program, and as a result, the company will end participation in the program before the January 2014 deadline. “The Straight A program was instrumental in ensuring that families could access federal student loans in the height of the economic crisis when consumer credit was, in general, extremely hard to come by,” said Joseph DePaulo, executive vice president, banking and finance, Sallie Mae. “We are pleased to secure this alternative facility and refinance these loans ahead of schedule. Our conservative liquidity standards, strong support from our bank group and demand from the capital markets for quality term ABS make this an attractive transaction.” Sallie Mae's assets in the Straight A facility have fallen from a high of $24.1 billion in December 2010 to $6.9 billion at March 31, 2013, primarily through the issuance of term securitization transactions. Sallie Mae

is the nation's No. 1 financial services company specializing in education. Celebrating 40 years of making a difference, Sallie Mae continues to turn education dreams into reality for American families, today serving 25 million customers. With products and services that include 529 college savings plans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search and planning tools, education loans, insurance, and online banking, Sallie Mae offers solutions that help families save, plan, and pay for college. Sallie Mae also provides financial services to hundreds of college campuses as well as to federal and state governments. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.