Iconixx, IBM and Sallie Mae Launch Online 'Going-to-College' Destination; First Inclusive and Objective Resource of Its Kind, Wiredscholar.com(SM) Debuts; Simultaneous to Launch, Iconixx Unveils Sallie Mae's New Corporate Web Site

VIENNA, Va., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Iconixx today completed its role in the launch of Sallie Mae's (NYSE: SLM) new online business, wiredscholar.com -- a major new Internet destination that provides college-bound students, parents and guidance professionals with a comprehensive "going-to-college" resource. Wiredscholar.com is the most inclusive online resource for college preparation, evaluation, selection, application and financing. Iconixx, working at the direction of IBM Global Services, contributed to the design and development of the new site. In a parallel effort, Iconixx also redesigned Sallie Mae's corporate Web site. "Wiredscholar.com represents a new online venture for Sallie Mae, and is designed to be an objective and interactive tool for the nearly 7.5 million students planning for college each year," said Paul Carey, executive vice president of Sallie Mae. "Our tight time constraints required an e-solutions team that could attack the project from multiple angles and ensure the delivery of a product that matched our vision. We chose Iconixx and IBM Global Services because both have worked successfully with each other in the past and are very knowledgeable about our core business." Specifically, Iconixx provided strategic counsel on the positioning and branding of the new site, as well as design of the overall user experience and development of the user interfaces. IBM integrated the user interface with the systems architecture, the business layer and the persistence layer to complete the wiredscholar site. The site content was provided by Sallie Mae and based on extensive research and discussions with students, parents and guidance professionals. In a parallel effort, Iconixx developed a new version of Sallie Mae's existing corporate Web site. "In building wiredscholar.com, we considered Sallie Mae's leadership position in the student loan industry and realized that the corporate site did not accurately reflect that," said Denise Sparhawk, engagement manager at Iconixx. "So, while we worked on wiredscholar.com, we conducted an extensive upgrade of their corporate Web site. The result is a stronger, more unified Sallie Mae brand." About Sallie Mae Sallie Mae, founded 26 years ago, provides funds for educational loans, primarily federally guaranteed student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). The company currently owns or manages student loans for 5.3 million borrowers and also provides parents, students and educators with comprehensive information on the financial aid process. Through its specialized subsidiaries and divisions, Sallie Mae also provides an array of consumer credit loans, including those for lifelong learning and K-12 education, and business and technical outsourcing services for colleges and universities. More information is available at http://www.salliemae.com. SLM Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries, other than the Student Loan Marketing Association, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States. About Iconixx Iconixx is a leading end-to-end e-business solutions provider focused on leveraging broadband, wireless and other emerging technologies to enhance client businesses. The Company's services include e-business strategy and planning, user experience, business functionality and network infrastructure. These services, combined with deep expertise in wireless and broadband technologies, enable Iconixx to create dynamic, media-rich and scalable e- business solutions for clients. The Iconixx team numbers 480 strategic, technical and creative professionals and is headquartered in Vienna, VA, with locations across the United States and in Europe. Iconixx works with Global 1000 and dot-com businesses, including: Columbia Energy Group, MCI WorldCom, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, PEPCO, Redbricks.com, Sallie Mae, Sprint and Wrenchead.com. The Company's web site can be accessed at http://www.iconixx.com. Iconixx(TM) is a trademark of Iconixx Corporation. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.