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We know thee well Virtually anyone who's taken out student loans knows - and occasionally wishes to bite - the name of the hand that feeds, Sallie Mae. The nation's leading provider of higher education loans for students and parents, Sallie Mae (which is short for the Student Loan Marketing Association) partners with 3700 schools nationwide, and funds about 40 percent of all insured student loans. The firm essentially buys and takes over loans issued by about 900 lender clients - financial institutions such as commercial banks and credit unions - servicing them through several main centers across the U.S. Sallie Mae also lends money directly to colleges for facilities building, equipment acquiring and other capital projects. Government beginnings Founded in 1972 as a government company to address problems that arose from the federal Guaranteed Student Loan program of 1965, Sallie Mae's initial task was to convince banks to participate in student loans, which were generally considered poor risks. The company was sufficiently successful in this effort to ensure that in 1981, under pressure from the federal government, Sallie Mae was able to declare itself financially self-supporting. In 1983, the company went public. The new finance Since then, Sallie Mae's assets have grown in assets from just over $1 million in 1973 to about $47 billion in 1997. In 1996, the U.S. Congress has passed legislation requiring Sallie Mae's complete privatization, a process that was completed as Sallie Mae officially became the subsidiary of a publicly traded holding company, SLM Holding. Through the aggressive efforts of former COO and current CEO Albert Lord, the firm has moved into more sophisticated financial practices, such as repackaging student loans as securities (lumping together many student loans and selling them as bonds to investors). Lord's aggression was part of a management shakeup in 1997 that resulted from stockholder unhappiness with previous complacent business practices.
Sallie Mae is one of the few financial firms in the nation that does not require an MBA of candidates for management positions. Applicants can look up job openings and apply online at the firm's web site, located at www.salliemae.com. The firm also runs job fairs, "mostly for technically educated or experienced people." Sallie Mae's interviews are reportedly laid-back for a financial services firm. "Usually interviews are one-on-one, fairly standard," reports one insider. "Interviews are not real stressful and not too many rounds." Another Sallie Mae insider is more specific: "All interview tracks are identical regardless of department. You'd be interviewed by an HR representative to determine your general qualifications, then sent to a mid-level person in the hiring department. If you pass that interview, you'd get another interview by a higher-level person. If you make the cut every time, you'll get an offer." "Most of the jobs at Sallie Mae are in their four loan servicing centers, all located in communities you would not normally seek out," reports one insider. These centers are located in Wilkes Barre, PA, Lawrence, KS, Panama City, FL, and Killeen , TX. "The loan servicing centers are mostly hourly positions, but there are some finance positions there." At its headquarters in Reston, the firm hires for many finance and systems jobs. If you've got your eye on a stepping stone to other financial services firm, however, Sallie Mae may not fit the bill. Says one insider "Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are better. They both are involved in home mortgages, and banks love to hire someone with Freddie or Fannie experience. Student loan experience from Sallie Mae does not attract much interest."
The touchy-feely organization, to some Employees call Sallie Mae a "touchy-feely organization." A business casual dress code, and a humane workweek (when compared to other financial services firms) keep job satisfaction relatively high. Says one insider: "Sallie Mae is populated with intelligent, well educated and very hard working people who generally like their jobs and want to help their customers. Employees respect their co-workers, and expect their co-workers to do good work as part of the overall team." The firm also draws high marks for diversity. Notes one insider: "More women are management and executive level at Sallie Mae - 55 percent - than almost any other large company." Says another: "Sallie appears to me to be very fair to all of its employees. There are a number of minorities in major positions of authority throughout the company." Even one insider, who is generally critical of the firm as an employer, reports that "the one thing about Sallie Mae is they do not discriminate." In addition, Sallie Mae offers employees "lengthy and comprehensive" job training, tuition reimbursement of 80 to 100 percent after the first year of employment, and the promise of internal promotions. "Most of the Vice Presidents started at the entry level and worked their way up," says one employee. However, because the company encourages long careers, upper-level positions become open only "infrequently." Not the steadiest of ships Other insiders have complaints about turmoil at the firm, in part due to the power struggle that saw Albert Lord ascend to CEO, and in part because of the changing status of the firm to a completely privatized institution. "My advice to you is to steer away from Sallie Mae," says one former employee. "Very political there. There are constant reorganizations, and people lose their jobs at the drop of a hat." Says another: "Sallie is going through some pretty serious growing pains right now since it is the first GSE (Government Sponsored Enterprise) to cut the umbilical cord with the government and go out on its own." However, some employees who have been victims of the shuffling organization laud the way Sallie Mae has maintained concerned about its employees. "I have been laid off from three different companies in my life, and Sallie Mae certainly handled the whole situation in an extremely employee-focused way - much more than any other company I've ever heard of," says one former employee. "The severance package was excellent, they did lots of job search assistance, and they pushed all of us to relocated at their expense should we want to stay with the company." Sally's perks At the firm's headquarters in Reston, there's a "great 350-person restaurant in the building." Also, employees can enjoy a "well-equipped, free health club," as well as "indoor and air-conditioned parking." Reports one insider: "Pay is average but the benefits are pretty good - excellent health/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, dollar-for-dollar 401(k) company matching, and 15 percent discounts on stock purchases." Says another: "Sallie has a very good compensation package and non-contributory retirement package in which you become fully vested after five years."
Human Resources
Education Loan Financing;Facilities Enhancement Financing;Loan Purchasing; Secured Loans/Lines of Credit;Loan Servicing;Operational Support
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