Sallie Mae Designated Official Student Loan Partner of Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF)

Sallie Mae , the nation’s leading saving and paying for college company, has been recognized as the official student loan partner of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF), a nonprofit organization that works to identify, inspire, promote and prepare Latino role models through national leadership, cultural, educational and workforce programs.

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“Sallie Mae has clearly accepted a leadership role in education and has made a point to provide a vision as well as opportunities for Latinos to attend college,” said Jose Antonio Tijerino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. “Thanks to their support, our foundation is able to provide educational funding for young Latino leaders and position them as role models for their peers to provide inspiration and a path to success in the classroom and community.”

Sallie Mae, along with more than 35 leading national Hispanic organizations, will take part in HHF’s annual celebration on Oct. 11 in Washington, D.C. The event will honor the 2007 recipients for their leadership and the impact achieved in their respective fields. Sallie Mae will present the Hispanic Heritage Award in the education category to U.S. Representatives Xavier Becerra (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) for their work in advocating the Latino Museum Bill in Congress. The bill serves as the foundation to establish the American Latino Museum, which is designed to bring focus on the artistic, cultural and historical contributions of Latinos in the United States.

“Sallie Mae is proud to support the work of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, as it believes as we do that everyone should have the chance to grow into a dream,” said C.E. Andrews, CEO, Sallie Mae. “Making education accessible and affordable for all students at all times of their lives has been our mission since 1972. Today, this commitment has served more than 21 million students.”

As part of the HHF event, Sallie Mae also sponsored a breakfast for the parents of the National Youth Award recipients on the morning of Oct. 11 on Capitol Hill. That gathering provided parents and others in attendance with information on how to pay for college and what steps can be taken to better ensure students graduate.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, for every 100 Hispanic children entering kindergarten, 63 will graduate from high school and only 11 will obtain a bachelor’s degree by the age of 29. Sallie Mae is committed to reversing this trend with programs and initiatives focusing on the educational needs of Hispanic students and families. In addition to scholarship programs, Sallie Mae’s Hispanic efforts include:

— Sallie Mae Hispanic, an effort that provides Solutions for Hispanic
Serving Institutions, as well as outreach and support to Hispanic
communities.
— SallieMae.com in Español, which gives Hispanic families access to
information and resources on financing a college education, in their
native language.
— Spanish content on CollegeAnswer.com, Sallie Mae’s early outreach Web
site. The site helps Hispanic families with all of their planning and
paying for college needs — not only with information about how to
finance a college education, but also with assistance in selecting
colleges, applying for admissions, searching for scholarships and
applying for financial aid.
— Dedicated outreach hotline for Hispanic families in which Sallie Mae
representatives answer in Spanish and assist families with every aspect
of the college process.
— 2Futuro, a college financing and outreach program for Spanish and
English speaking families. Developed with USA Funds, the nation’s
leading student loan guarantor, 2Futuro specifically addresses the
needs of the 45 million Hispanics in this country today and the
colleges and universities serving them.

Sallie Mae also sponsors The Sallie Mae Fund, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase access to higher education, particularly among low-income and minority families and first-generation college students. In response to research showing that low awareness about scholarships and other forms of financial aid prevents many Latino young adults from pursuing a higher education, The Sallie Mae Fund launched the Paying for College Bus Tour. This coast-to-coast education campaign conducts free workshops and distributes materials in Spanish and English to high school students and their families in major Hispanic population centers. Now in its fourth year, the Bus Tour has provided more than 500 workshops in 33 states, reaching 100,000 people.

This year, The Sallie Mae Fund awarded $2.5 million in scholarships to college students with financial need, including the “First in My Family” Scholarship Program for Hispanic-American students who are the first in their family to pursue higher education. It also supported “Latino College Dollars,” a national directory of 300 scholarships available to Hispanic students.

SLM Corporation , commonly known as Sallie Mae, is the nation’s leading provider of saving- and paying-for-college programs. The company manages $160 billion in education loans and serves nearly 10 million student and parent customers. Through its Upromise affiliates, the company also manages $19 billion in 529 college-savings plans, and 8 million members have joined Upromise to help save for college with rewards on purchases at nearly 70,000 places. Sallie Mae and its subsidiaries offer debt management services as well as business and technical products to a range of business clients, including higher education institutions, student loan guarantors and state and federal agencies. More information is available at www.salliemae.com. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.

The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission-to increase access to a postsecondary education for America’s students-by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can. For more information, visit www.salliemaefund.org.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) identifies, inspires, promotes and prepares Latino role models through national leadership, cultural, educational and workforce programs. HHF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with all sponsorships facilitating its year-round programs, including the Hispanic Heritage Awards, Youth Awards, LOFT (Latinos on Fast Track) Network, Speakers Bureau, and HispanicHeritage.org. Additional information is available on the Web at www.hispanicheritage.org or by calling Esther Rege 202/210-8469.

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