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COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP FILES CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST SLM CORPORATION

January 31, 2008 – Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Coughlin Stoia”) (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/salliemae/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of SLM Corporation (“Sallie Mae”) (NYSE:SLM) common stock during the period between January 18, 2007 and January 3, 2008 (the “Class Period”).

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Darren Robbins of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@csgrr.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.csgrr.com/cases/salliemae/. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges Sallie Mae and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Sallie Mae, through its subsidiaries, provides education finance in the United States.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and financial results and, despite evidence that Sallie Mae’s loan loss provisions for its subprime borrowers attending non-traditional schools were inadequate both prior to and at the start of the Class Period, defendants failed to adequately reserve for losses in Sallie Mae’s non-traditional portfolio. As a result of defendants’ false statements, Sallie Mae’s stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a Class Period high of $57.98 per share in July 2007.

On January 3, 2008, the Company disclosed in an SEC filing that it would be cutting back on its core business of lending to students by being “more selective” in making students loans due to turmoil in the credit markets and a new federal law that slashed subsidies to the private companies that make government-backed student loans. On this news, Salle Mae’s stock dropped $2.49 per share to close at $16.67 per share, a one-day decline of 15%.

According to the complaint, the true facts, which were known by the defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period, were as follows: (a) the Company failed to engage in proper due diligence in originating student loans to subprime borrowers, particularly those attending non-traditional institutions; (b) the Company was not adequately reserving for uncollectible loans in its non-traditional portfolio in violation of generally accepted accounting principles, causing its financial results to be materially misstated; (c) the Company had far greater exposure to anticipated losses and defaults related to its non-traditional loan portfolio than it had previously disclosed; and (d) given the deterioration and the increased volatility in the subprime market and reductions in federal subsidies, the Company would be forced to tighten its lending standards on both its federal loans and private education loans which would have a direct material negative impact on its loan originations going forward.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Sallie Mae common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlanta, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) has more information about the firm.