Back to the drawing board for Sallie Mae.
It’s no accident the nation’s largest private student-loan provider has quit the controversial lobbyist for educational reform known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), critics say.
“We’ve been putting pressure on Sallie Mae for months, and delivered a petition demanding [that] they leave ALEC, with 15,000 signatures,” said student-debt campaign organizer Chris Hicks. It’s a “big win,” added Ori Korin, a spokeswoman for other activist groups that supported the student campaign.
Hicks says a chastened Sallie is now the 50th company to exit ALEC, labeling the latter “the extremist, anti-democratic, pay-to-play front group for right-wing corporate interests.”
The outspoken Hicks added, “For too long, Sallie Mae has effectively skirted regulation, ignored calls for transparency and stayed out of the public eye, despite its major role in the student-debt crisis. But thanks to our efforts, Sallie Mae is no longer operating under the radar.”
Sallie discreetly quit ALEC late this summer. A company spokeswoman was quoted as saying the “noise level” from ALEC membership was distracting Sallie from its original business goals.
Sallie said it will find other ways to work with state and local governments, and now hopes to focus on the success of its educational-loan customers.