Sallie Mae 2015 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Upromise by Sallie Mae
Upromise by Sallie Mae is a save-for-college rewards program helping Americans save for higher education. Membership
is free and each year approximately 400,000 consumers enroll to use the service. Members earn money for college by receiving
cash back rewards when shopping at participating on-line or brick-and-mortar retailers, booking travel, dining out at
participating restaurants, and by using their Upromise MasterCard. As of December 31, 2015, more than 850 merchants
participated by providing discounts passed on to members in the form of cash back rewards. Since inception, Upromise
members have received approximately $1 billion for college, and more than 390,000 members actively use the Upromise credit
card for everyday purchases.
Our Approach to Advising Students and Families How to Pay for College
Our annual research on How America Pays for College1 confirms students and their families cover the cost of college
using multiple sources. According to this research, just 40 percent of families have a plan to pay for college. Sallie Mae offers
free online financial literacy resources, including interactive tools and content, at SallieMae.com/Plan-for-College, to help
families construct a comprehensive financial strategy to save and pay for college. Plan for College features the College
Planning Calculator, which facilitates families setting college savings goals, projecting the full cost of a college degree, and
estimating future student loan payments and the annual starting salary level needed to keep payments manageable. In addition,
Sallie Mae offers a free mobile application, College Ahead, that engages high school juniors and seniors in a step-by-step
journey to college.
To encourage responsible borrowing, Sallie Mae advises students and families to follow a three-step approach to paying
for college:
Step 1: Use scholarships, grants, savings and income.
We provide access to an extensive free online scholarship database, which includes information about more than 5 million
scholarships with an aggregate value in excess of $24 billion.
Through the Bank, we offer traditional savings products, such as high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts,
and certificates of deposit (“CDs”).
In addition, our Upromise by Sallie Mae save-for-college rewards program helps families jumpstart their save-for-college
plans by providing financial rewards on everyday purchases made at participating merchants.
Step 2: Explore federal government loan options.
We encourage students to explore federal government loan options, including Perkins loans, Direct loans and PLUS
loans. Students apply for federal student aid, including federal student loans, by completing the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid.
Step 3: Consider affordable Private Education Loans to fill the gap.
We offer competitively priced Private Education Loan products to bridge the gap between family resources, federal loans,
grants, student aid and scholarships, and the cost of a college education.
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1 Sallie Mae’s How America Pays for College 2015, conducted by Ipsos, www.salliemae.com/howamericapays.