Sallie Mae 2011 Annual Report Download - page 111

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of SLM Corporation:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated financial statements listed in the index present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2011 and 2010,
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended
December 31, 2011 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’s
management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial
reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the
accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is
to express opinions on these financial statements and on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting
based on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether
effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the
financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management,
and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting
included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material
weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on
the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which
it accounts for transfers and servicing of financial assets and consolidations of variable interest entities in 2010.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting
includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made
only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable
assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the
company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that
controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
McLean, VA
February 27, 2012
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