DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SLM Corp. (SLM) said it plans to create 2,000 jobs by returning
its overseas operations to the U.S.
The move comes as the company has been seeking a new role in
student lending and grappling with an inability to access
traditional funding sources because of tight credit markets.
The largest U.S. student lender, known as Sallie Mae, said it
will hire call center, information technology and operations
support workers across the company over the next 18 months.
"The current economic environment has caused our communities to
struggle with job losses," Chief Executive Albert Lord said. "They
need jobs, and we will put 2,000 of them into U.S. facilities as
soon as we possibly can."
Sallie Mae's shares were up 7.5% at $5.75 in premarket trading.
The stock is off 40% so far this year as of Friday's close.
The company has been dealing with a budget proposal from the
Obama administration that would diminish the role of private
lenders in federal student loans. Investors have worried that the
Virginia-based company will lose a major source of income if the
proposal is adopted.
Sallie, which makes private and federal student loans, gets
nearly one-third of its income from the federal student loans it
makes for the government. It had $34 billion in private loans at
the end of the fourth quarter and $146 billion in federal student
loans.
Sallie Mae said last month it was replacing its private loan
with a shorter-term one that requires borrowers to make monthly
interest payments while they are in school. The new loan, which is
already available, will help borrowers reduce the total amount of
interest they pay, although the additional requirements could make
it even harder for some borrowers to get a loan.
The interest-only requirement is likely to push private loans -
which often come with higher interest rates than federal loans -
out of reach for more borrowers. But the new structure could make
it easier for Sallie Mae to sell bundles of the loans as securities
to investors, which could, in turn, make more loans available for
borrowers.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry,grace@dowjones.com