Sallie Mae 2008 Annual Report Download - page 2

FORWARD-LOOKING AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
This report contains forward-looking statements and information based on management’s current expecta-
tions as of the date of this document. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our
beliefs or expectations and statements that assume or are dependent upon future events, are forward-looking
statements, and are contained throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including under the sections
entitled “Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations.” Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that
may cause actual results to be materially different from those reflected in such forward-looking statements.
These factors include, among others, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could
give rise to our ability to cost-effectively refinance asset-backed financing facilities due April 2009,
(collectively, the “2008 Asset-Backed Financing Facilities”), including any potential foreclosure on the student
loans under those facilities following their termination; increased financing costs; limited liquidity; any adverse
outcomes in any significant litigation to which we are a party; our derivative counterparties terminating their
positions with the Company if permitted by their contracts and the Company substantially incurring additional
costs to replace any terminated positions; changes in the terms of student loans and the educational credit
marketplace (including changes resulting from new laws, such as any laws enacted to implement the
Administration’s 2010 budget proposals as they relate to the Federal Family Education Loan Program
(“FFELP”) and regulations and from the implementation of applicable laws and regulations) which, among
other things, may change the volume, average term and yields on student loans under the FFELP, may result
in loans being originated or refinanced under non-FFELP programs, or may affect the terms upon which banks
and others agree to sell FFELP loans to the Company. The Company could be affected by: various liquidity
programs being implemented by the federal government; changes in the demand for educational financing or
in financing preferences of lenders, educational institutions, students and their families; incorrect estimates or
assumptions by management in connection with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements;
changes in the composition of our Managed FFELP and Private Education Loan portfolios; changes in the
general interest rate environment, including the rate relationships among relevant money-market instruments,
and in the securitization markets for education loans, which may increase the costs or limit the availability of
financings necessary to initiate, purchase or carry education loans; changes in projections of losses from loan
defaults; changes in general economic conditions; changes in prepayment rates and credit spreads; and changes
in the demand for debt management services and new laws or changes in existing laws that govern debt
management services. All forward-looking statements contained in this report are qualified by these cautionary
statements and are made only as of the date this Annual Report on Form 10-K is filed. The Company does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to conform the statement to
actual results or changes in the Company’s expectations.
Definitions for capitalized terms used in this document can be found in the “Glossary” at the end of this
document.
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