Sallie Mae Awards $120,000 in Scholarships to Help Employee Families Pay for College
Sallie Mae Family Scholarship Program Has Awarded More than $1.5
Million Since 2001
NEWARK, Del.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sallie Mae, the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college
company, today announced its Family Scholarship Program has awarded
$120,000 in scholarships to 24 children of company employees. Sallie
Mae’s Family Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to
employees’ children who plan to attend college or a vocational-technical
school. Each of this year’s recipients received a $5,000 scholarship for
the upcoming academic year.
According to “How
America Pays for College 2016,” the national study by Sallie Mae and
Ipsos, nearly half of all families used a scholarship to help pay for
college in academic year 2015-16. “How America Pays for College 2016”
also found that scholarships and grants covered 34 percent of college
costs last year, the largest proportion of any resource used to pay for
college in the past five years.
Sallie Mae’s Family Scholarship Program awards up to 10 new
scholarships, each of which is renewable for up to three years or until
the student earns a bachelor’s degree or certificate. For academic year
2016-17, the company awarded 10 scholarships and extended 14 scholarship
renewals. Nearly 300 children of Sallie Mae employees have benefited to
date from the program, which has provided more than $1.5 million in
scholarships since 2001.
“Sallie Mae is all about helping customers save, plan, and responsibly
pay for college, and that mission also extends to our employees and
their families,” said Bonnie Beasley, senior vice president, Sallie Mae.
“Our Family Scholarship Program is an important and valuable benefit,
and it’s just one of the ways we express our appreciation for the work
our employees do every day on behalf of students and families across the
country.”
This year’s Family Scholarship recipients include:
-
Benjamin Campbell of Newark, Del., who is pursuing legal studies at
Wesley College. -
Madison Pruitt of Bear, Del., who is studying cognitive science at the
University of Delaware. -
Mariah Hoofer of Indianapolis, Ind., who plans to study special
education at Ball State University. -
Nicholas Kennedy of Carmel, Ind., who will study business at Purdue
University. -
Alexandra Plummer of Indianapolis, Ind., who plans to study pharmacy
or engineering at Purdue University. -
Alyssa Shea of Franklin, Mass., who will study arts and sciences at
Providence College. -
Mary Adelaide Fries of Cincinnati, Ohio, who is pursuing a degree in
public administration at Miami University. -
Stephanie Ohalek of Youngstown, Ohio, who is studying allied health at
Otterbein University. -
Alexandra Goodwin of Midlothian, Va., who plans to study nursing at
James Madison University. -
Esther Wisdom of Falls Church, Va., who plans to study biochemistry at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
The Family Scholarship Program is open to dependent children of full- or
part-time Sallie Mae employees with at least one year of service. The
awards are merit-based; academic record, community involvement, honors,
work experience, and other factors are considered. Applicants must be
high school seniors or graduates who will attend an accredited two- or
four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school full-time
in the upcoming academic year.
Sallie Mae also offers a variety of scholarship opportunities to
students nationwide. The company has awarded nearly $240,000 in
scholarships in 2016 alone through programs including:
-
The Bridging
the Dream Scholarship, which asked school counselors throughout
the country to nominate students who demonstrate excellence inside and
outside the classroom. In 2016, four
students were awarded $25,000 each in Bridging the Dream
Scholarships. -
The Make
College Happen Challenge, which recognized students with a plan to
pay for college. The top
three recipients received scholarships of $15,000, $10,000, and
$7,500, respectively, and seven other winners each received $1,000. -
The Sallie Mae Bank Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships
for students in Utah, where Sallie Mae’s wholly owned banking
subsidiary is headquartered. This annual program, which is based on
community needs, typically awards nearly $100,000, with individual
scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
Sallie Mae makes it easy for students and families to find scholarships
with its free online Scholarship
Search tool, which provides access to 5 million scholarships worth a
total of $24 billion.
For more free online tools and resources to help families save, plan,
and responsibly pay for college visit SallieMae.com/PlanforCollege.
For more information about opportunities to join the Sallie Mae family
of employees, visit SallieMae.com/about/careers.
Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and
paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just
around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible
personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards,
scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail
banking. 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.
Contacts
Sallie Mae
Ellen J. Roberts, 302-451-0428
Ellen.Roberts@SallieMae.com