Sallie Mae marked its 40th anniversary at its headquarters near Newark with news that it is adding staff and making a donation to an effort to increase awareness of college education options for youth in the state.
The company employs 1,200 in Delaware and 7,000 nationwide. Monday was the first day for 30 new employees with 90 additional hirings expected in coming months.
Sallie Mae officials said the hirings include new jobs, as well as vacancies that occurred when employees moved on to other positions at the student lending company. In a few cases, the company has moved outsourced jobs in-house.
Sallie Mae CEO Al Lord praised the efforts of Gov. Jack Markell, Delaware Economic Development Office Director Alan Levin and other state officials in working with Sallie Mae.
The company came to the state during the depths of the financial crisis at the end of the decade. The company later opted to move its headquarters out of the Washington, D.C. area.
Lord said the move out of the beltway was good for Sallie Mae and allowed it to tap into a talented financial services workforce in the state and develop new financial products in a changing market.
Lord, who is stepping down as CEO of Sallie Mae, told nearly 100 guests, friends and staff who attended the event, the company experienced evolution and near revolution. The student lender started out as a federally sponsored corporation, but later became a shareholder-owned company. It survived a number of challenges that included the end of some student loan programs, Lord said.
Throughout its existence, the company learned how to adapt and managed to continue lending to students and parents during the financial crisis, a time when many lenders cut back or ceased activity.
Lord, who has been at the company throughout most of its existence, was ousted from his executive post at one point, but later returned to head the company.
In 2009, Sallie Mae began to service federal loans on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. After the federal government ended the Federal Family Education Loan Program in 2010, Sallie Mae refocused on consumer lending and business services segments. In the transition, its private loan originations have increased.
One success story is Sallie Mae’s Smart Option Student Loan was the first national private education loan product to require interest-only payments during school to reduce consumers’ total borrowing costs. Later, additional payment and fixed-interest-rate options were offered.
Company executives presented a $40,000 check to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware. The program will support college awareness education statewide. “Our partnership with Sallie Mae is enabling our youth to aspire beyond high school to prepare for success in college and throughout life,” said George Krupanski, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware. “The grant builds upon a $250,000 commitment made by Sallie Mae in August 2012 to our organization and demonstrates first hand Sallie Mae’s commitment to the youth of our state.”
Krupanski went on to cite findings of the Hope Commission that worked to determine the causes of violence in the city of Wilmington. Those findings indicated that shooting suspects and victims, often involved in drug activity, had little education or hope for the future.
The funding is aimed at educating young people on the importance of higher education.
