Annual Washington Business Journal Survey Places Sallie Mae Among Top
Givers in the D.C. Area for Fifth Consecutive Year
RESTON, Va., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Sallie Mae, the nation's leading
saving- and paying-for-college company, has been named one of the
Washington D.C. area's top 10 corporate philanthropists by the Washington
Business Journal and Greater D.C. Cares, the leading coordinator of
volunteering and business philanthropy in the Washington region. Sallie
Mae, and its charitable arm, The Sallie Mae Fund, were commended for giving
$4.5 million to the local community in 2006, placing the company in the top
10 for the fifth consecutive year.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030617/SLMLOGO-a )
"This award exemplifies Sallie Mae's commitment to help underserved
Americans realize their education dreams," said Joni Reich, senior vice
president, Sallie Mae. "Education is at the heart of The Sallie Mae Fund's
mission. In working with other area non-profits, we hope to provide new
education opportunities for young people throughout the D.C. metro area."
The Washington Business Journal's annual list recognizes top corporate
contributors who provide financial and in-kind contributions and employee
volunteer hours to local nonprofit organizations. Among its efforts, The
Sallie Mae Fund's support of the following local organizations was
recognized:
-- DC College Access Program (DC-CAP). Since 1999, The Sallie Mae Fund
has provided more than $1.2 million to increase college access among
Washington metropolitan area students through DC-CAP. Washington D.C.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and more than 2,000 participants and volunteers
helped D.C. public high school students access higher education at the
24th annual Sallie Mae 10K held May 6. This year's race raised more
than $281,000 for DC-CAP, a local non-profit organization that helps
D.C. public high school students gain access to higher education
through assistance in planning and preparing for college, as well as by
providing "last-dollar" scholarships.
-- The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits and trains an ethnic mix of
student leaders from public high schools to form multicultural teams
called "posses." It selects students with academic and leadership
potential who are ambitious, motivated and smart, yet may be overlooked
by the traditional college selection process. Since 2004, The Sallie
Mae Fund has provided $1 million in funding to establish a D.C. Posse
Center to serve students throughout the metro D.C. area. Posse partner
universities provide full four-year college scholarships to Posse
students. The Sallie Mae Fund also pledged an additional $5 million
challenge grant to the Posse Foundation National Endowment.
-- Kids2College (K2C) is an early college awareness program designed to
bring early awareness to the importance of higher education by
introducing sixth graders to college life. Middle school classes are
paired with a local college or university to participate in a unique
six-session curriculum that combines hands-on activities with
information on careers, college life and how to choose courses that
give them the greatest range of options for education beyond high
school. The program culminates with a visit to the partner college for
both students and their parents or guardians. In Washington, D.C., K2C
has served 7,000 students since 2003 and is currently a program of
Partners4Education within the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
In addition to these D.C.-area initiatives, The Sallie Mae Fund has
made significant contributions to other higher education access initiatives
across the country, including:
-- Sallie Mae Fund Scholarships. The Sallie Mae Fund will once again
provide $2.5 million in college scholarships to roughly 1,000 deserving
students pursuing higher education this fall. Applications, eligibility
and deadline information are now available on The Fund's Web site. The
Fund's scholarships include: The First in My Family Scholarship, The
American Dream Scholarship, The Unmet Need Scholarship, The 911
Education Fund Scholarship, and The Imagine America Scholarship.
-- The "Paying for College" Bus Tour. The Tour, in its fourth year, is The
Fund's coast-to-coast awareness campaign to help underserved students
and families uncover college opportunities. Since 2004, the "Paying for
College" Bus Tour has reached nearly 100,000 families and awarded more
than $330,000 in scholarships. For the 2007 spring leg of the Tour, the
bus visited 37 communities, reaching approximately 20,000 students and
families and providing $51,000 in scholarships. The 2007 Fall Bus Tour
kicks off in Des Moines on Sept. 8.
In recognition of providing scholarships and financial aid information
to America's neediest students and families, last fall Sallie Mae also
received the prestigious Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership at a
ceremony held at the White House.
Since 1973, Sallie Mae has helped more than 21 million Americans
achieve a college education. The company's charitable arm, The Sallie Mae
Fund, has distributed more than $100 million since 2001, largely to
increase access to higher education for low-income and minority students.
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 $153 billion in education loans and serves nearly 10
million student and parent customers. Through its Upromise affiliates, the
company also manages $18 billion in 529 college-savings plans, and 8
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.
SOURCE Sallie Mae
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