Who is complaining aboutSLM CORPORATION?
When looking at complaint volume about a company or product, consider company size and/or market share. For example, companies with more customers may have more complaints than companies with fewer customers.
The CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database. A complaint is a consumer's account of a problem; it is not a finding against the company.
Complaints, last 12 months
1,106
932 in the 12 months before · 6,095 since 2012 · under 0.1% of all complaints the CFPB received
For its size
No public size denominator
This company could not be matched by name to a single institution in the FDIC, NCUA or HMDA files, so its count cannot be scaled here. Read the count with the company's customer base in mind.
The CFPB complaint database records 1,106 complaints about SLM CORPORATION in the 12 months to 1 Oct 2026, up 19% on the 932 of the 12 months before, and 6,095 in all since 2012.
SLM CORPORATION could not be matched by name to a single institution in the FDIC, NCUA or HMDA files, so its complaint count cannot be set against its size here. A company with more customers can be expected to receive more complaints than one with fewer.
62.5% of the complaints in that period fall under the CFPB product category “Student loan”, followed by “Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports” at 24.8%. The issue selected most often was “Dealing with your lender or servicer” (28.7%).
How the company's responses were recorded over the 12 months: 83.1% closed with an explanation, 9.1% closed with non-monetary relief, 1.7% closed with monetary relief, and 6.1% still in progress when the file was published. 100% of responses were marked timely; the median among the 18 companies whose complaints mainly concern “Student loan” is 100%.
Among those 18 peer companies the median received 138.5 complaints in the same 12 months. A complaint is a consumer's account and is not a finding against the company; the CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it.
Windows end on 1 Oct 2026, the last date in the CFPB file. The latest two to three weeks are incomplete because a complaint is published only after the company responds or 15 days pass.
Compared with peer companies
| Measure | SLM CORPORATION | Peer median (18 companies) | All complaints nationally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints, last 12 months | 1,106 | 138.5 | 6,945,592 |
| Change on the 12 months before | 19% | 1% | 44% |
| Responses marked timely | 100% | 100% | 99.6% |
| Closed with monetary or non-monetary relief | 11.5% | 0% | 31.5% |
Peers are the 18 companies on this site whose largest complaint category is Student loan and that received at least 20 complaints in the last 12 months. Peer companies differ widely in size; a per-size row appears only when at least five peers share this company's size measure, and its median is taken over those peers alone.
Complaints by month
What the complaints are about
Products and issues are the categories the consumer selects on the CFPB form, shown with the CFPB's wording, in the last 12 months.
- Student loan691 · 62.5%
- Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports274 · 24.8%
- Debt collection120 · 10.8%
- Credit card10 · 0.9%
- Checking or savings account8 · 0.7%
- All other categories3 · 0.3%
| Issue (CFPB label) | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dealing with your lender or servicer | 317 | 28.7% |
| Incorrect information on your report | 217 | 19.6% |
| Struggling to repay your loan | 205 | 18.5% |
| Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem | 72 | 6.5% |
| Improper use of your report | 71 | 6.4% |
| Getting a loan | 67 | 6.1% |
| Took or threatened to take negative or legal action | 45 | 4.1% |
| Attempts to collect debt not owed | 36 | 3.3% |
| Communication tactics | 21 | 1.9% |
| Managing an account | 7 | 0.6% |
| Other CFPB issue categories | 48 | 4.3% |
Student loan
691 complaints in the last 12 months (62.5% of this company's total); 516 in the 12 months before. That is 3.6% of all complaints in the category nationally. 13.2% of closed complaints ended with relief; 100% of responses were timely.
Issues
| Issue | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dealing with your lender or servicer | 317 | 45.9% |
| Struggling to repay your loan | 205 | 29.7% |
| Getting a loan | 67 | 9.7% |
| Incorrect information on your report | 67 | 9.7% |
| Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem | 22 | 3.2% |
| Other CFPB issue categories | 13 | 1.9% |
Sub-products
| Sub-product | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Private student loan | 657 | 95.1% |
| Federal student loan servicing | 34 | 4.9% |
Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports
274 complaints in the last 12 months (24.8% of this company's total); 298 in the 12 months before. That is under 0.1% of all complaints in the category nationally. 6% of closed complaints ended with relief; 100% of responses were timely.
Issues
Sub-products
| Sub-product | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Credit reporting | 273 | 99.6% |
| Other personal consumer report | 1 | 0.4% |
Debt collection
120 complaints in the last 12 months (10.8% of this company's total); 95 in the 12 months before. That is under 0.1% of all complaints in the category nationally. 15.7% of closed complaints ended with relief; 100% of responses were timely.
Issues
| Issue | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Took or threatened to take negative or legal action | 45 | 37.5% |
| Attempts to collect debt not owed | 36 | 30% |
| Communication tactics | 21 | 17.5% |
| Written notification about debt | 7 | 5.8% |
| False statements or representation | 6 | 5% |
| Other CFPB issue categories | 5 | 4.2% |
Sub-products
| Sub-product | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| I do not know | 72 | 60% |
| Private student loan debt | 43 | 35.8% |
| Federal student loan debt | 3 | 2.5% |
| Credit card debt | 1 | 0.8% |
| Other debt | 1 | 0.8% |
Credit card
10 complaints in the last 12 months (0.9% of this company's total); 4 in the 12 months before. That is under 0.1% of all complaints in the category nationally. 20% of closed complaints ended with relief; 100% of responses were timely.
Issues
Sub-products
| Sub-product | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| General-purpose credit card or charge card | 10 | 100% |
How the company responded
The CFPB records one closing category for each complaint, chosen by the company. Shares are of all complaints in the last 12 months.
- Closed with explanation919 · 83.1%
- Closed with non-monetary relief101 · 9.1%
- In progress67 · 6.1%
- Closed with monetary relief19 · 1.7%
The current CFPB export carries no consumer-disputed field, so no disputed rate is shown. The CFPB stopped collecting that field in April 2017.
The company's optional public response
Companies may choose one public response category from a CFPB list. These are the company's own selections.
| Company public response (CFPB category) | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law | 950 | 85.9% |
| No public response category recorded | 71 | 6.4% |
| Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error | 63 | 5.7% |
| Company believes complaint caused principally by actions of third party outside the control or direction of the company | 13 | 1.2% |
| Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers | 5 | 0.5% |
| Company believes the complaint is the result of a misunderstanding | 3 | 0.3% |
| Company can't verify or dispute the facts in the complaint | 1 | 0.1% |
Where the complaints come from
| State (as reported by the consumer) | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 100 | 9% |
| California | 95 | 8.6% |
| Florida | 95 | 8.6% |
| Texas | 83 | 7.5% |
| New Jersey | 64 | 5.8% |
| Pennsylvania | 61 | 5.5% |
| Georgia | 52 | 4.7% |
| North Carolina | 47 | 4.2% |
| Illinois | 38 | 3.4% |
| Maryland | 34 | 3.1% |
| Massachusetts | 34 | 3.1% |
| Michigan | 30 | 2.7% |
Top 12 of 48 states with at least one complaint in the last 12 months. State counts follow population and where the company does business.
Other companies in the same category
Companies whose complaints mainly concern Student loan, nearest in complaint volume. Listed for navigation, in no order of merit.
Questions and answers
How many complaints has the CFPB received about SLM CORPORATION?
1,106 in the 12 months to 1 Oct 2026 (932 in the 12 months before that) and 6,095 since 2012. 47 arrived in the last 30 days and 220 in the last 90 days; the most recent weeks are incomplete because a complaint is published only once the company responds or after 15 days.
How does that compare for its size?
SLM CORPORATION could not be matched by name to a single institution in the FDIC, NCUA or HMDA files, so its complaint count cannot be set against its size here. A company with more customers can be expected to receive more complaints than one with fewer. The CFPB's own caution: “When looking at complaint volume about a company or product, consider company size and/or market share. For example, companies with more customers may have more complaints than companies with fewer customers.”
What are people complaining about?
62.5% of complaints in the last 12 months are filed under “Student loan”. The issues selected most often were “Dealing with your lender or servicer” (28.7%), “Incorrect information on your report” (19.6%), “Struggling to repay your loan” (18.5%). These are the categories the consumer picks on the CFPB form; the text of complaints is not used on this site.
How does SLM CORPORATION respond to complaints?
83.1% were closed with an explanation, 9.1% with non-monetary relief and 1.7% with monetary relief; 100% of responses were timely (peer median 100%).
Does the CFPB verify complaints?
The CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it. The Bureau publishes a complaint after the company responds, confirming a commercial relationship with the consumer, or after 15 days, whichever comes first. A complaint on file is not a finding that the company did anything wrong.
Where do these figures come from?
From the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database bulk file, counted through 1 Oct 2026, using only the coded fields (company, product, issue, state, dates, company response). Company size comes from FDIC, NCUA or HMDA public files where the company appears in one. Company names are shown as the CFPB publishes them.
Provenance
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database, bulk file downloaded 1 Oct 2026, complaints received through 1 Oct 2026. Only coded fields are used (company, product, sub-product, issue, state, dates, company response, timeliness); complaint narratives are never read, stored or shown. Complaints are published once the company responds or after 15 days, so the most recent two to three weeks are incomplete. The company name is shown as the CFPB publishes it. No size measure: the company could not be matched by name to a single institution in the FDIC, NCUA or HMDA files. Companies can respond to the CFPB about any complaint; errors in this site's processing are fixed at the next daily build. Size measures: FDIC BankFind (report date 30 Jun 2026), NCUA call reports (30 Jun 2026), HMDA transmittal sheet (2025), Census Bureau population estimates (2025). All are US government works. See this company's complaints at the CFPB · Methodology · Report an error.