Sallie Mae Encourages Saving for College in Celebration of America Saves Week

Redesigned Upromise.com Makes Earning Cash Back for College Even Easier

NEWARK, Del., Feb 20, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Sallie Mae, the nation's No. 1 financial services company specializing in education, celebrates America Saves Week, Feb. 19-26, by encouraging more Americans to save for their education.

To assist families in achieving their saving for college goals, Sallie Mae has unveiled a redesigned Upromise.com that enables parents saving for college, students in college, and student loan customers repaying their loans to more easily find opportunities to earn cash back for college. Since Upromise was created in 2001, members have earned a total of $660 million.

"Saving little by little can add up to a lot," said Jack Remondi, president and COO, Sallie Mae. "America Saves Week is a good time to start a habit of saving for college or give your family budget a college savings tune-up."

According to Sallie Mae's national study of college students and parents, "How America Pays for College," 66 percent of parents rely on college savings and income to pay for college. For families who used them, 529 college savings plans provided the highest average amount ($9,729) toward paying for college than any other source of paying-for-college funding.

Upromise by Sallie Mae can help members boost college savings by earning cash back for college when they shop online, dine out or book travel at hundreds of participating companies. Upromise members put their earnings to use in 2011 by transferring nearly $24 million into 529 college savings plans administered by Upromise Investments, $5 million to pay down Sallie Mae student loans and $2.5 million in FDIC-insured Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Accounts offered through Sallie Mae Bank.

To encourage successful saving, as part of America Saves Week 2012, Sallie Mae will co-host an online event with the America Saves coalition and personal finance blogger Philip Taylor of PTmoney.com. Each co-host will provide tips on how to achieve savings goals and will be available to answer questions on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 8-9 p.m. EST on Twitter at #SallieMaeSaves.

Sallie Mae SLM -0.19% is the nation's No. 1 financial services company specializing in education. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae turns education dreams into reality for its 25 million customers. With products and services that include college savings programs, scholarship search tools, education loans, tuition insurance, and online banking, Sallie Mae offers solutions that help families save, plan, and pay for college. Sallie Mae also provides financial services to hundreds of college campuses as well as to federal and state governments. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.

SOURCE: Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae 
        Debby Hohler, 617-454-6741 
        dhohler@upromise.com 
        or 
        Abigail Harper, 302-283-4060 
        Abigail.Harper@salliemae.com