Sallie Mae Announces Enhanced Pennsylvania Rewards Program
RESTON, Va., April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sallie Mae, the
nation's leading saving- and paying-for-college company, today announced
plans to enhance its Pennsylvania Rewards Program. Under the new program,
Sallie Mae will offer even lower-cost Stafford loans for students attending
any Pennsylvania college or university in the upcoming 2007-2008 academic
year. Sallie Mae estimates that the Pennsylvania Rewards Program will save
a Pennsylvania student with $19,000 in Stafford loans more than $3,500 in
interest and fees.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030617/SLMLOGO-a)
Students who attend college in Pennsylvania and take out undergraduate
and graduate Stafford loans serviced by Sallie Mae and guaranteed by any
guarantor in the Commonwealth -- such as USA Funds or PHEAA -- for the
2007-2008 academic year are eligible for Sallie Mae's Pennsylvania Rewards
Program. Unlike benefit programs offered by other lenders where only a
fraction of borrowers meet the eligibility criteria, Sallie Mae's
Pennsylvania Rewards Program places benefits up front so that more students
will qualify and pay less for their education expenses.
"Sallie Mae believes in open competition in Pennsylvania's student loan
market, which results in the best price, best service and best value for
students, parents and schools," said Frank Hollister, executive vice
president of Sallie Mae Pennsylvania. "These benefits mean students
significantly reduce their overall cost of borrowing, pay no fees on
student loans and earn real repayment benefits."
Under the Pennsylvania Rewards Program, Sallie Mae pays the 1.5 percent
loan origination fee and the 1 percent default fee on loans guaranteed by
USA Funds for academic year 2007-2008. Sallie Mae borrowers with loans
guaranteed by PHEAA also qualify for the 1 percent default fee benefit,
paid on their behalf by PHEAA.
Sallie Mae's Pennsylvania Rewards Program also offers both a 2 percent
loan credit after Pennsylvania Stafford loan customers make their first on-
time loan payment and a 3.5 percent loan credit after the first 24 on-time
payments. Pennsylvania students with Stafford loans can also lower their
interest rate another 0.30 percentage points by making their loan payments
through Sallie Mae's automatic debit program.
The Pennsylvania Rewards Program, also includes the Upromise Loan Link,
a benefit that enables Sallie Mae customers -- in Pennsylvania and
nationwide -- to reduce their student loan debt on any of their Sallie Mae
serviced student loans, including Stafford, PLUS, Graduate PLUS,
consolidation and private loans, even while in school.
Sallie Mae customers who sign up to become Upromise members can apply
accumulated Upromise rewards to their student loan accounts. Upromise's
free popular rewards service allows members to earn rewards when shopping
online, buying gas or groceries, dining out, or purchasing other goods and
services from more than 500 participating companies. With Loan Link, these
rewards can then be automatically transferred into the customer's Sallie
Mae student loan account. When combined with the other borrower benefits
offered under the Pennsylvania Rewards Program, the average Pennsylvania
student could save more than 18 percent on his or her original student loan
balance.
"While Sallie Mae is committed to making the dream of a higher
education a reality for Pennsylvania families, by offering innovative, cost
saving programs, proposals in Washington to cut the federal student loan
program would make it even more difficult to offer these benefits,"
Hollister continued. "These benefits save real students real money, and we
are concerned that, in the long run, government proposals could make it
more expensive for students here in Pennsylvania and across the country to
borrow money for college."
The Pennsylvania Rewards Program is available to students with Stafford
loans first disbursed July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 from one of the
following participating lenders or lender partners: Academic Management
Services (AMS), College Board, Dollar Bank, Nellie Mae, and Sallie Mae
Education Trust.
SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, is the
nation's leading provider of saving- and paying-for-college programs. The
company manages $150 billion in education loans and serves nearly 10
million student and parent customers. Through its Upromise affiliates, the
company also manages $17 billion in 529 college-savings plans, and over 7.5
million members have joined Upromise to help save for college with rewards
on purchases at nearly 70,000 places. Sallie Mae and its subsidiaries offer
debt management services as well as business and technical products to a
range of business clients, including higher education institutions, student
loan guarantors and state and federal agencies. More information is
available at http://www.salliemae.com. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are
not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.
Upromise is the country's largest private source of college aid.
Membership is free and allows families to automatically save money for
college while making everyday purchases of products and services at more
than 23,000 grocery and drug stores, 14,000 gas stations, 8,000
restaurants, as well as thousands of retail stores, and more than 400
online shopping sites. Upromise's partners include Citi(R), ExxonMobil
Corporation, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald's(R), JCPenney.com, LandsEnd.com,
Sears.com, and hundreds of others. Upromise also makes it easy for families
to start their own college savings strategy through tax-advantaged 529
college savings plans, or by using Upromise contributions to help pay off
student loans. These securities are offered through Upromise Investments,
Inc. (member NASD/SIPC). Upromise is a wholly owned subsidiary of SLM
Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, the nation's leading
provider of saving-and-paying-for-college programs. Upromise is
headquartered in Needham, Mass., and has more than 350 employees. For
additional information about Upromise, visit http://www.Upromise.com.
SOURCE Sallie Mae
back to top
