Earnings per Common Share (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted

A reconciliation of the numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted EPS calculations follows.

	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30,				June 30,
(In thousands, except per share data)	2015		2014		2015		2014
Numerator:
Net income attributable to SLM Corporation	$	91,016	$	44,128	$	138,715	$	91,576
Preferred stock dividends	4,870		3,228		9,693		3,228
Net income attributable to SLM Corporation common stock	$	86,146	$	40,900	$	129,022	$	88,348
Denominator:
Weighted average shares used to compute basic EPS	425,688		422,805		425,061		424,751
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive effect of stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock units and Employee Stock Purchase Plan ("ESPP") (1)(2)	7,054		7,945		7,462		7,938
Weighted average shares used to compute diluted EPS	432,742		430,750		432,523		432,689
Basic earnings per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	0.20	$	0.10	$	0.30	$	0.21
Diluted earnings per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	0.20	$	0.09	$	0.30	$	0.20

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⁽¹⁾ Includes the potential dilutive effect of additional common shares that are issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, and the outstanding commitment to issue shares under the ESPP, determined by the treasury stock method.

⁽²⁾ For the three months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, securities covering approximately 2 million and 4 million shares, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, securities covering approximately 2 million and 3 million shares, respectively, were outstanding but not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.