Sallie Mae 2003 Annual Report Download - page 6

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4
Letter from the CEO & President
Thomas J. Fitzpatrick
PRESIDENT AND
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
political risk. Yet, today we believe
the FFELP success story makes this
public/private partnership more stable
than ever. The American taxpayer has
underwritten the $210 billion FFELP
loans outstanding today and as noted
earlier, that investment actually
returned cash to them in 2003. We
are excited by that result and, as the
program’s largest participant, we feel
quite proud of the achievement.
Sallie Mae foresees continued
financial equilibrium for FFELP once
Congress considers the structural flaw
in the current consolidation loan pro-
gram, which sets 30-year loan inter-
est rates with rates appropriate for
90-day loans. This mismatched
financing technique—lending long
and borrowing short—virtually
erased the thrift industry and cost
taxpayers billions of dollars. Unless
changed, today’s consolidation pro-
gram will transfer billions of taxpayer
dollars from those who are seeking a
college education to those who have
already obtained their degrees.
We owe our shareholders a special
thank you in this era of heightened
corporate scrutiny and sensitivity. Your
CEO, COO and Board of Directors are
proponents and holders of long-term
stock options as is every employee of
Sallie Mae. These options in aggregate
reward us with about a 10 percent
share of Sallie Mae’s value creation.
We thank you for this generous level,
and we promise to use the option
authorization we seek from you this
year prudently.
Last year, we increased our commit-
ment to philanthropic activities with a
one-time $40 million contribution to
The Sallie Mae Fund.With assets of
about $90 million, the Fund supports
strategic K-12 and higher education
projects in the nation’s capital and
throughout the country. On behalf of
the Fund’s beneficiaries, we thank you
for your support.
We close this letter with recogni-
tion of our employees. Thanks to their
attention to the needs of financial
aid officers, and to their high quality
service to our 7 million loan cus-
tomers, we have concluded another
year of solid performance and con-
tinuous improvement.
ALBERT L. LORD
VICE CHAIRMAN AND
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
THOMAS J. FITZPATRICK
PRESIDENT AND
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
political risk. Yet, today we believe