Sallie Mae 'Does Not Seek Monopoly'

In this corner we have the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) with an alleged 85 per cent market share of Pennsylvania student loans. In this corner we have student loan giant Sallie Mae, enmeshed with over 9 million borrowers and with a student loan portfolio of around $127 billion. Will they ever find love in the big city?

Probably not.

The saga of PHEAA and Sallie Mae is detailed in a story running in the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal. Once upon a time, back in 2005, the two talked of tying the knot in a pretty impressive merger. That fell through (with some hints that it was due to cold feet on PHEAA?s part). And, as with most bitter breakups, both sides are trash-talking each other.

PHEAA claims that Sallie Mae is seeking a monopoly share of the student loan pie in Pennsylvania. Sallie Mae has countered that PHEAA, with that 85 per cent market share, is actually the one with the monopoly. PHEAA claims that Sallie Mae is not staying true to its non-profit model. Sallie Mae claims that it is not a corporate predator. PHEAA: ?You?re ugly.? Sallie Mae: ?I?ve never liked your shoes.?

To read more about the back and forth between the student loan providers, go to Sallie Mae ‘does not seek monopoly’.