Flashbacks:
The RNGC Caddyshackpocalypse
Bollards!
Sallie Mae is moving its headquarters and hundreds of jobs from Reston to Delaware, the student loan giant said Thursday.The move is a reaction to the federal government's decision to cut the middlemen out of the government student loan business, though the company still participates in the
The move will take a bite out of the local economy, and it could force Sallie Mae employees to make difficult choices. In addition to uprooting lives, relocating to Delaware could force many employees to sell homes in a depressed real estate market.
A few hundred of the approximately 700 headquarters jobs will remain in Reston, company spokeswoman Martha Holler said.
A fixture of the local business establishment, Sallie Mae has been in the Washington area for almost 40 years.
Sallie Mae chief executive Albert L. Lord broke the news to employees at a Thursday meeting, before the move was publicly announced. Lord told workers that even if they are not required to move, they are welcome to follow the leadership to Delaware.
We feel for you, Sallie Mae employees. We really do.
I'm not sure where Delaware is going to squeeze any more people in. It's a really SMALL state and it's already really crowded. But hey, they'll be closer to the toxic waste... oops ... beaches.
ReplyDeletegood riddance
ReplyDeleteAnyone stupid enough to borrow money to get a diploma is stupid enough to live in Delaware.
ReplyDeleteYes because college costs $5 a semester. Moron.
ReplyDeleteSallie Mae has been in a number of controversies in recent years. Perhaps by leaving Reston they hope to escape them.
ReplyDeleteAlbert L. Lord , who earns a sallery of $1,298,076.00 a year had neted some 18 million dollars which is described as timly. http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/blogs/2007/02/sallie_mae
ReplyDeleteWell at least he is not a graduate of Harvard and past employee of Goldman Sac like most these days.
If you leave Reston at 5:30 a.m. you can be in Newark before nine. Long commute, but we all have to sacrifice.
ReplyDelete"Basically, the rate cuts mean that Sallie Mae's private loans will range anywhere from 2.88% to 10.25%. The exact rate charged depends on a person's credit and whether or not the student borrower has a parent or another person serving as a co-signer."
ReplyDeleteThose are very low rates. Borrowing beyond one's ability to pay has become something of an entitlement these days. Screwing the savers on CD's and bonds has become the equivalent of the tax hike that takes money out of one pocket and puts it into another's.
"Borrowing beyond one's ability to pay has become something of an entitlement these days."
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @6:50pm is projecting their frustration at the mortgage and credit card market on to student loan market.
a) How can anybody, particularly the student, determine their ability to pay back a student loan? Are they supposed to analyze the job market and general economy trends over the next 4 years (the typical time required to get a degree), cross reference that with the skill set they plan on acquiring, to determine what loan amounts they can handle?
b) Additionally, it is impoosible to avoid paying back a student loan. The govt will come after you and garnish your wages. The loan companies will gleefully pile on extra fees to ensure you can never pay it back.
The Shylocks are leaving Reston! Hurray!
ReplyDeleteThese leaches have been screwing college kids almost as bad a credit card companies for decades.
The only thing better would be Sallie Mae declaring bankruptcy and their top management were frogmarched off to Gitmo.
I feel bad for the 550 non-management types and their families who face dislocation in the middle of the Great Recession.
The empty office building won't help Reston's too high office vacancy rate.
Otherwise, screw Sallie Mae!
Are they going to sell the property or lease out all the extra space? They no longer seem to be able to maintain the grounds. Two of the three ponds are overgrown with weeds and algae.
ReplyDeleteI doubt the frustration is at the lack of availability of credit but at the inflated cost of education. Credit is actually being priced below cost and well below default rates on both housing and education.
Anon 10:48...you sound bitter. Guess you had trouble paying your loan and are blaming them? SallieMae is a well-respected organization. Spend some time looking at the good things they do, include employing people and making a college education a possibility for those of us who can't qualify for scholarships or other funding because my parents make too much money. Losing 550 jobs in Reston is bad.
ReplyDelete6:32 Do you and 12:19 work for Sallie Mae?
ReplyDelete550 lost jobs is bad, I already noted.
Everyone is eligible for an unsubsidized Stafford loan regardless of income, just file the FASFA.
My college loans were paid off decades ago and I paid a low margin over the 10 year US bond rate than Sallie/Shylock charges you.
Sallie Mae borrowed money and loaned it to kids with a 300-500 basis point mark up. The loans could not be discharge in bankruptcy. So the only risk was the death of the borrower/student. What's good about that bargain? Nothing, it was a total rip off.
Congress ended it. Now the loan will come directly from the federal gov't as it did in the 60s & 70s at a much lower interest to the student. That's much better.
BTW, what the hell is wrong with your parents who make enough to prevent you from getting financial aid but aren't helping you pay for college? Skinflints.
10:48
Jeez, why borrow at all? If you wait until you're 24 and have been virtually unemployed for the last year, the school/government will practically pay your tuition and books with grants. If you can do the room and board cheaply, like living in Mom's and Dad's basement, you can get an undergrad degree, be debt-free and not be burdened with the hassles of a job while you're going to school. Hey, it worked for me.
ReplyDeleteThat explains a lot, Convict
ReplyDeleteAccording to the July 9 Wash. Business Journal, the scum at Sallie Mae had been planning this move for almost a year.
ReplyDeleteThey sold their HQ building in late 2009 and took back a short term lease on the top 4 floors for 3 years (a very short term in an office lease). Those floors were put on the sublease market in January of this year.
None of this was told to their employees until last week.
Way to give the hired help the mushroom treatment, Mr. Albert Lord: feed them manure and keep them in the dark.
If we're really lucky, the College Board will leave next.
ReplyDelete