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Specialty Finance

SLM Corp Executive Compensation (FY25)

SLM · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2025
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
Jonathan Witter
Latest say-on-pay support
=
June 16, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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Data as of October 22, 2026Latest filing (8-K): June 18, 2026
17 filings cited on this page
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254 figures on this page: 243 cited to the filing that reported them, 11 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
What changed from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025
The figures that moved, and by how much. Analysis of these figures is part of the Velarion platform.
Chief executive total compensation — Jonathan Witter: $11,804,848 → $11,261,733 (4.6% lower)
CEO pay ratio: 115:1 → 102:1 (11.3% lower)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is SLM Corp's chief executive and what were they paid?
Total compensation for Jonathan Witter, Chief Executive Officer, came to $11,261,733 in fiscal 2025. Witter's total was 4.6% lower than the $11,804,848 reported for fiscal 2024.
What was SLM Corp's say-on-pay result?
Shareholders supported the say-on-pay proposal with 99.4% of votes cast including abstentions in favor at the meeting held June 16, 2026 for fiscal 2025.
Which companies are in SLM Corp's peer group?
Companies named in the disclosed peer group include Ally Financial Inc., Axos Financial, Inc., BankUnited, Inc., Commerce Bancshares, Inc. and Credit Acceptance Corporation, among others.
What is SLM Corp's chief executive pay ratio?
The company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 102:1 for fiscal 2025, against median employee compensation of $110,230.

Executive compensation

Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2022
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Jonathan Witter
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kerri Palmer
Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Donna Vieira
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Jonathan Witter
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kerri Palmer
Executive Vice President and Chief Operational Officer and President of Sallie Mae Bank
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Steven McGarry
Former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Donna Vieira
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Nicolas Jafarieh
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal, Government Affairs, and Communications Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Peter Graham
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
◇◇◇—◇——◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Jonathan Witter
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Peter Graham
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kerri Palmer
Executive Vice President and Chief Operational Officer and President of Sallie Mae Bank
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Donna Vieira
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Nicolas Jafarieh
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal, Government Affairs, and Communications Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Jonathan Witter
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Peter Graham
Co-President and Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Kerri Palmer
Co-President and Head of Financial Services and President of Sallie Mae Bank
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Donna Vieira
Former Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Nicolas Jafarieh
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal, Government Affairs, and Communications Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. A negative change in pension value is shown but, as the company reports it, not included in the total.

Equity awards granted

Individual awards as disclosed: type, date, unit counts at each level, and grant date value.
Fiscal 2025
OfficerAwardGrant dateThreshold unitsTarget unitsUnits grantedMaximum unitsExercise priceGrant date fair value
Donna VieiraPSU◇—◇—◇—◇
Donna VieiraRSU◇——◇——◇
Jonathan WitterPSU◇—◇—◇—◇
Jonathan WitterRSU◇——◇——◇
Kerri PalmerRSU◇——◇——◇
Kerri PalmerPSU◇—◇—◇—◇
Nicolas JafariehPSU◇—◇—◇—◇
Nicolas JafariehRSU◇——◇——◇
Peter GrahamRSU◇——◇——◇
Peter GrahamPSU◇—◇—◇—◇
Fiscal 2023, 2024 are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. Threshold, target and maximum apply only to performance awards and are never shown for time-based or option awards.

Outstanding awards

Awards still held at fiscal year end.
As disclosed at fiscal 2025 year end
OfficerAwardUnvested unitsMarket value of unvested unitsExercise priceExpires
Kerri PalmerRSU◇◇——
Peter GrahamRSU◇◇——
Jonathan WitterRSU◇◇——
Donna VieiraRSU◇◇——
Nicolas JafariehRSU◇◇——
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Severance and change in control

The terms as written in the agreements.
Kerri Palmer
Co-President and Head of Financial Services and President of Sallie Mae Bank · Change-in-control agreement
Change-in-control multiple◇
Equity acceleration on change in control◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Nicolas Jafarieh
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal, Government Affairs, and Communications Officer · Change-in-control agreement
Severance multiple◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Equity acceleration on change in control◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Benefits continuation◇
Clawback◇

Director compensation

What each non-employee director was paid.
Fiscal 2025
DirectorFees earned in cashStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Mary Carter Warren Franke
Board chair
◇◇———◇◇
R. Scott Blackley
—◇———◇◇
Jim Matheson
◇◇———◇◇
Mark L. Lavelle
◇◇———◇◇
Vivian C. Schneck-Last
◇◇———◇◇
Ted Manvitz
—◇———◇◇
Janaki Akella
◇◇———◇◇
Christopher T. Leech
◇◇———◇◇
Kirsten O. Wolberg
◇◇———◇◇
Henry F. Greig
◇◇———◇◇
Gary Millerchip
◇◇———◇◇
Daniel Greenstein
◇◇———◇◇
Robert S. Strong
◇————◇◇
Jonathan W. Witter served on the board in fiscal 2025 and received no compensation for board service. Executive directors are typically paid through their executive roles, shown above.
Earlier years are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Director fee schedule

The standing retainers and premiums the board pays, as published.
Board cash retainer◇
Board equity retainer◇
Board chair premium◇
Audit committee chair◇
Audit committee member◇
Compensation committee chair◇
Compensation committee member◇
Nominating and governance chair◇
Nominating and governance member◇

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • Ally Financial Inc. ALLY
  • Axos Financial, Inc. AX
  • BankUnited, Inc. BKU
  • Commerce Bancshares, Inc. CBSH
  • Credit Acceptance Corporation CACC
  • Enova International, Inc. ENVA
  • F.N.B. Corporation FNB
  • LendingClub Corporation LC
  • LendingTree, Inc. TREE
  • OneMain Holdings, Inc. OMF
  • Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. PB
  • SoFi Technologies, Inc. SOFI
  • Synovus Financial Corp. SNV
  • Upstart Holdings, Inc. UPST

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025June 16, 2026=◇◇◇
2024June 17, 2025=◇◇◇
2023June 18, 2024=◇◇◇
2022June 20, 2023=◇◇◇
2021June 21, 2022=◇◇◇
2020June 8, 2021=◇◇◇
2019June 18, 2020=◇◇◇
2018June 20, 2019=◇◇◇
2017June 21, 2018=◇◇◇
2016June 22, 2017=◇◇◇
2015June 23, 2016=◇◇◇

Chief executive pay ratio

As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇

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- Jonathan Witter (Chief Executive Officer), FY2025 total compensation $11,261,733 (base salary $1,100,000) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001193125-26-182200, filed 2026-04-27]

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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact SLM Corp disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where SLM Corp sits against its disclosed peers — percentile position by role and by pay element, and the ranking behind it. The disclosed peer group is free; comparisons across it are part of the Velarion platform.
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A read of the pay program as designed and as paid: incentive structure, goal rigor, the alignment between the committee's stated philosophy and what the numbers show.
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Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
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Realizable pay
What the awards above are actually worth today against what they were valued at on grant, and what the gap says about the pay-for-performance link.
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Citations

Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
254 figures on this page: 243 cited to the filing that reported them, 11 calculated from figures it prints.
243 cited to the filing
11 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001032033-26-000036
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  2. 0001193125-26-182200
    2025 Director Compensation Table · 2025 Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table · Director Compensation · Outstanding Equity Awards at 2025 Fiscal Year-End Table · and 1 more section
  3. 000119312526182200
    CEO Pay Ratio
  4. 0001628280-25-032410
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  5. 0001193125-25-100629
    Summary Compensation Table
  6. 0001628280-24-033081
    Employment Agreement
  7. 0001628280-24-029341
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  8. 0001193125-24-118174
    Summary Compensation Table
  9. 0001628280-23-023299
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  10. 0001193125-23-122378
    Summary Compensation Table
  11. 0001628280-22-018066
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  12. 0001628280-21-012104
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  13. 0001628280-20-009830
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  14. 0001628280-19-008279
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  15. 0001193125-18-204064
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  16. 0001193125-17-216587
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  17. 0001193125-16-633152
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
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Velarion, “SLM Corp executive compensation, FY2022–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/SLM (accessed 2026).
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17 filings cited on this page
Method: intel.velarion.ai/methodology
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Specialty Finance rankings

Chief executive pay — Specialty FinanceCEO pay ratio — Specialty FinanceSay-on-pay support — Specialty Finance

Peers SLM Corp discloses

The companies named in SLM's own disclosed peer group.

Ally Financial Inc.Axos Financial, Inc.BankUnited, Inc.Commerce Bancshares, Inc.Credit Acceptance CorporationEnova International, Inc.F.N.B. CorporationLendingTree, Inc.OneMain Holdings, Inc.Prosperity Bancshares, Inc.SoFi Technologies, Inc.Synovus Financial Corp.Upstart Holdings, Inc.

Terms on this page

Say-on-Pay VoteCEO Pay RatioMedian Employee CompensationAll companies

Free to read and cite. Redistribution or bulk use of the dataset requires a data license. Talk to us about the data license.

Cite this data
APA
Velarion Company Intelligence. (2026). Velarion database: executive and board compensation data (Version 2026Q3) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854
BibTeX
@misc{velarionData2026,
  author = {{Velarion Company Intelligence}},
  title = {Velarion database: executive and board compensation data},
  year = {2026},
  version = {2026Q3},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22283854},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854}
}
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