SLM Financial Corp.
- Company typePublic
- Founded1973
- HeadquartersNewark, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
SLM Financial Corp. firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SLM Financial Corp.
- Legal name
- SLM Corporation
- Website
- https://salliemae.com
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 1973
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SLM Financial Corp. industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Private Student Lending and Consumer Banking
- NAICS
- Depository Credit Intermediation (5221), Finance and Insurance (52), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)
- SIC
- Personal Credit Institutions (6141), Savings Institution, Federally Chartered (6035), Asset-Backed Securities (6189)
- akta.pro industry
- Subprime & Deep-Subprime Unsecured Personal Loans (Installment)
Keywords
Where SLM Financial Corp. is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newark
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
SLM Financial Corp. business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Private Student Loan Interest: Interest income from private student loans for undergraduate, graduate, medical, dental, law, MBA, and career training programs. Revenue generated through variable and fixed interest rates ranging from 2.89% to 17.49% APR.
- Savings Products: High-yield savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts generating fee income and deposit spreads. Current APY of 3.75% on high-yield savings.
- Loan Sales and Gains: Secondary market activities generating gains on loan sales. Q1 2026: $3.3 billion in loan sales generating $146 million in gains.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Undergraduate Student Loans |
| Subscription | Monthly | Graduate School Loans |
| Subscription | Monthly | Career Training Loans |
| Subscription | Monthly | High-Yield Savings Account |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
SLM Financial Corp. product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SLM Financial Corp., operating as Sallie Mae, is a consumer banking and education financing company that funds private student loans across undergraduate, graduate, medical, dental, law, MBA, nursing, career training, residency, and bar exam programs. The company complements its lending franchise with FDIC-insured deposit products—high-yield savings, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and the SmartyPig goal-based savings account—distributed primarily through its direct-to-consumer digital channels.
Product overview
Sallie Mae operates as a consumer banking and education financing platform offering private student loans and savings products. The core offering consists of undergraduate and graduate student loans across multiple specialized categories (medical, law, dental, MBA, nursing, career training, residency, and bar exam loans), complemented by savings products including high-yield savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and SmartyPig goal-based savings. The company also provides supporting tools including a mobile app, loan calculators, scholarship search (Scholly), and college search (Scout). Loans are available with fixed or variable rates and multiple repayment options including interest-only, fixed payment, and deferred repayment plans.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SmartyPig: Goal-based savings account product that helps customers save for specific financial goals with competitive interest rates.
Products and services
- Sallie Mae Undergraduate Student Loan Private student loan product for undergraduates pursuing bachelor's or associate degrees or certificates, with fixed rates 2.89%–17.49% APR, variable rates 3.62%–16.25% APR, and multiple repayment options (interest-only, fixed $25/month, deferred, Graduated Repayment Period). Assumes $10,000 loan with 4-year in-school period and 6-month grace.
- Sallie Mae Graduate School Loan Private student loans for students pursuing master's or doctoral degrees in humanities, sciences, and other graduate education tracks. Fixed rates up to 14.99% APR and variable rates up to 14.35% APR.
- Sallie Mae Medical School Loan Private student loans for medical school expenses as students earn MD, DO, DPM, DVM, or VMD degrees, covering tuition and associated education costs.
- Sallie Mae Law School Loan Private student loans tailored for law school expenses as students earn their JD or LLM degrees.
- Sallie Mae MBA Loan Private student loans for business school expenses as students earn their Master of Business Administration degree.
- Sallie Mae Dental School Loan Private student loans for dental school costs as students earn their Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD) or Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degrees.
- Sallie Mae Nursing School Loan Private student loans for expenses as students earn a bachelor's or associate degree in nursing or a related field.
- Sallie Mae Career Training Loan Private student loans for expenses during professional training or certificate courses like culinary, technical, aviation, and other professional programs. Fixed rates up to 17.64% APR and variable rates up to 16.51% APR.
- Sallie Mae Bar Exam Loan Private student loans for expenses, fees, and living costs while studying for the bar exam.
- Sallie Mae Medical Residency Loan Private student loans for board examination fees, travel, and moving expenses during medical residency.
- Sallie Mae Dental Residency Loan Private student loans for board examination fees, travel, and moving expenses during dental residency.
- Sallie Mae Health Professions Graduate Loan Private student loans for expenses as students earn a health professions degree in allied health, nursing, pharmacy, and other graduate-level health programs.
- Sallie Mae Cosigners & Parent Loan Private student loan options with cosigners to help students pay for school, with cosigner release available after qualifying on-time payments.
- Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Account FDIC-insured savings account offering 3.75% APY, compounded daily and paid monthly, with no minimum balance and no monthly maintenance fees.
- Sallie Mae Certificates of Deposit FDIC-insured savings products that lock in a fixed rate and APY for guaranteed returns over multiple terms, with a $2,500 minimum deposit required.
- Sallie Mae Money Market Account FDIC-insured savings account with higher interest rates and no monthly maintenance fees, with interest compounded daily and paid monthly.
- SmartyPig Savings Account Goal-based FDIC-insured savings account that tracks individual goals and saves at higher interest rates than traditional savings accounts.
Quantifiable outcome
- 95% cosigner rate demonstrating strong credit quality
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SLM Financial Corp.
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
SLM Financial Corp. technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
SLM Financial Corp. partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators12 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SLM Financial Corp. competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Earnest: A digital-first private student loan originator and refinancer (now part of the Navient family) that targets high-credit-quality borrowers with underwriting flexibility. Direct competitor in prime student loan origination and refinancing.
- SoFi Technologies: Operates a large private student loan refinance book and personal loan franchise aimed at prime-credit young professionals, overlapping with Sallie Mae's post-graduation customer base. Comparable in credit quality, digital-first distribution, and lifecycle cross-sell.
- Discover Financial Services: Operates Discover Student Loans, one of the largest active private student loan originators in the US, targeting undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Closely comparable product mix, direct-to-consumer distribution, and credit profile.
- Citizens Financial Group: Through Citizens One, the bank originates private student loans for undergraduate and graduate students across the US, often via co-branded school partnerships. Comparable in target customer, product set, and bank-based funding model.
- College Ave Student Loans: Online-only private student loan originator covering undergraduate, graduate, and career training programs with a similar digital application experience and product structure. Competes head-to-head with Sallie Mae in direct-to-consumer channels.
- Navient Corporation: Historically one of the two dominant US private student lenders alongside Sallie Mae. While Navient has shifted more toward business processing and asset recovery, it remains a directly comparable peer in private student loan origination, servicing, and securitization economics.
Broad incumbents
- Nelnet: Diversified student-loan services company that services federal and private student loans and operates a smaller private loan origination business. Broad incumbent comparable due to overlapping infrastructure, servicing scale, and exposure to the US student-loan ecosystem.
Regional players
- MEFA (Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority): State-based nonprofit that originates and refinances student loans primarily for Massachusetts residents and partner-school students. Offers comparable undergraduate and graduate loan products but with a regional, mission-driven footprint rather than national scale.
Emerging players
- Prodigy Finance: Specialty lender funding international graduate students attending top US and global business schools. Comparable at the graduate-professional segment level where Sallie Mae's MBA, medical, and law loan products compete.
- Ascent Funding: Emerging private student loan originator with unique outcomes-based underwriting for students without cosigners. Comparable product category and target borrower, but with a more focused go-to-market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SLM Financial Corp. social profiles
Digital presenceSLM Financial Corp. financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SLM Financial Corp. leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
SLM Financial Corp. subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
SLM Financial Corp. funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SLM Financial Corp. M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A6 records
Investments6 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SLM Financial Corp.
What does SLM Financial Corp. do?
SLM Financial Corp., operating as Sallie Mae, is a consumer banking and education financing company that funds private student loans across undergraduate, graduate, medical, dental, law, MBA, nursing, career training, residency, and bar exam programs. The company complements its lending franchise with FDIC-insured deposit products—high-yield savings, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and the SmartyPig goal-based savings account—distributed primarily through its direct-to-consumer digital channels.
Is SLM Financial Corp. a public or private company?
SLM Financial Corp. is a public company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was SLM Financial Corp. founded?
SLM Financial Corp. was founded in 1973. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is SLM Financial Corp. based?
SLM Financial Corp. is headquartered in Newark, United States, in the North America region.
How does SLM Financial Corp. make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Private Student Loan Interest is the primary driver. The others are savings Products and loan Sales and Gains.
Who are SLM Financial Corp.'s main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Earnest, SoFi Technologies, Discover Financial Services, Citizens Financial Group, College Ave Student Loans and Navient Corporation. Nelnet is listed as a broad incumbent. MEFA (Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority) is listed as a regional player. Emerging players are Prodigy Finance and Ascent Funding.
Does SLM Financial Corp. have an API?
No public API is recorded for SLM Financial Corp..
What industry is SLM Financial Corp. in?
SLM Financial Corp.'s product category is Private Student Lending and Consumer Banking. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAKAAAC, Subprime & Deep-Subprime Unsecured Personal Loans (Installment). Its NAICS code is 5221 and its SIC code is 6141.