Guide Note:

Sallie Mae is the largest student loan company in the United States. The company provides funding through its participation in the Federal Family Education Loan Program, a government supported education finance measure. Sallie Mae's revenue stream is segmented into two business categories: the lending business and the asset performance group business.

Fast Facts:

1. Stock symbol: SLM, NYSE
2. Annual revenue (2007): $9.171 billion
3. Sallie Mae started as Student Loan Marketing Association
4. Year Established: 1972
5. Industry: Finance
6. Phone: 1-703-810-3000
7. Fax: 1-703-810-5074
8. HQ: Reston, Virginia
9. President: Charles Elliott Andrews
10. CEO: Albert L. Lord
11. CFO: John F. Remondi
12. Staff: 11,000
13. Other key people: Anthony P. Terracciano, Chairman of the Board

• 1972: Founded as the government sponsored, Student Loan Marketing Association

• 1997: Efforts to start privatizing begin

• 2004: Government charter expires, Sallie Mae becomes a private company

• 2005: Washington Business Journal names the company as a top local philanthropist

• 2007: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launches investigation on Sallie Mae, which lead to a change in the company's lending standards