RESTON, Va. – Student loan giant Sallie Mae, battered by legislative reforms to the federal student loan program, is moving its corporate headquarters to Newark, Del., as part of a cost-cutting move.
In April, Sallie Mae announced plans to downsize the number of its operating locations, from 25 to as few as five, while laying off nearly a third of its 8,600-person work force.
Sallie Mae moved its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to suburban Virginia in 1996. The company bought a 160,000-square-foot building in Delaware in 2008.
The company, which already employs about 900 people in the Newark facility, said it will hire additional employees there across the next five years. The Delaware Economic Development Office will recommend offering a Delaware Strategic Fund Grant equal to 3%, or a maximum of $3 million, of Sallie Mae's potential $100 million capital investment at the Delaware site, according to a release. Sallie Mae may be eligible for another performance-based grant based on the number of new jobs created in that state.
Sallie Mae is by far the largest student loan originator and servicer and manages a portfolio of about $150 billion of student loans.
