Scholarship Program Applications Now Available from the Sallie Mae Fund

Dear Financial Aid Professional,

According to recent research, nearly 4.4 million students who graduate from high school this decade will not be able to attend a four-year college because they believe they cannot afford it. As you know, scholarships play a critical role in helping deserving students bridge the financial gap to attend college.

This year, The Sallie Mae Fund®, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae® and dedicated to college access, will make education dreams a reality for roughly 1,000 underserved students planning to attend college in the fall by awarding more than $2.5 million in college scholarships. Applications for these scholarships are now available online at www.salliemaefund.org.

The face of higher education in America is changing. By the year 2015, the number of college-age

Americans will rise by nearly 5 million. Eighty percent of this growth will come from minorities, many of whom traditionally rely on financial aid programs. Research commissioned by The Sallie

Mae Fund has shown that thousands of these students are not enrolling in college because of the perception that college is out of reach.

The Sallie Mae Fund is trying to change this status quo by addressing three key barriers to higher education—awareness of financial aid, academic performance and financial need. Since 2001,

The Fund has awarded more than $10 million in scholarships to specifically address financial need among promising young students.

To be eligible for Sallie Mae Fund scholarship programs, students must be accepted and plan to enroll as an undergraduate at a Title IV eligible, approved, accredited, postsecondary, two- or four-year college or university, vocational or technical school in the United States or Puerto Rico, and meet program-specific eligibility requirements.

We encourage you to download and post the scholarship fact sheet and make your students aware of the applications for the 2007-2008 school year available at www.salliemaefund.org.

>> Download The Sallie Mae Fund Scholarship Fact Sheet (PDF, 84K)

Sincerely,

Kathleen deLaski

President, The Sallie Mae Fund

12061 Bluemont Way

Reston, VA 20100