SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM) Secures Industrial Bank Charter

RESTON, Va., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SLM Corporation , commonly known as Sallie Mae, the nation's leading provider of education funding, today announced that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions have approved the company's application for an industrial bank charter.

Beginning in January 2006, Sallie Mae Bank will fund and originate private education and federally guaranteed consolidation loans made by Sallie Mae to students and families nationwide. In addition, the industrial bank charter allows Sallie Mae to expand the products and services it can offer to students and families. The company's private education loan products will also continue to be available through several of its strategic lending partners.

Although the bank's services will be provided nationally, the operations will be conducted through a single branch in Salt Lake City. Mark B. Howard, president and CEO of Sallie Mae Bank and former CFO of Volkswagen Bank, will lead an initial staff of 11.

Sallie Mae Bank will not have a material impact on the company's 2006 earnings.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" including expectations as to future market share, the success of preferred channel originations and future results. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, among others, changes in the terms of student loans and the educational credit marketplace arising from the implementation of applicable laws and regulations, and from changes in such laws and regulations, changes in the demand for educational financing or in financing preferences of educational institutions, students and their families, and changes in the general interest rate environment. For more information, see the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SLM Corporation , commonly known as Sallie Mae, is the nation's No. 1 paying-for-college company, managing nearly $121 billion in student loans for 8 million borrowers. Sallie Mae was originally created in 1972 as a government-sponsored entity (GSE) and terminated its corporate ties to the federal government in 2004. The company remains the country's largest originator of federally insured student loans. Through its specialized subsidiaries and divisions, Sallie Mae also provides debt management services as well as business and technical products to a range of business clients, including colleges, universities and loan guarantors. 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.

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