Earnings per Common Share (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

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)	2016		2015		2016		2015
Numerator:
Net income	$	57,205	$	91,016	$	123,120	$	138,715
Preferred stock dividends	5,243		4,870		10,382		9,693
Net income attributable to SLM Corporation common stock	$	51,962	$	86,146	$	112,738	$	129,022
Denominator:
Weighted average shares used to compute basic EPS	427,942		425,688		427,526		425,061
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive effect of stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock units and Employee Stock Purchase Plan ("ESPP") (1)(2)	3,854		7,054		3,823		7,462
Weighted average shares used to compute diluted EPS	431,796		432,742		431,349		432,523
Basic earnings per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	0.12	$	0.20	$	0.26	$	0.30
Diluted earnings per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	0.12	$	0.20	$	0.26	$	0.30

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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, 2016 and 2015, securities covering approximately 1 million and 2 million shares, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, securities covering approximately 4 million and 2 million shares, respectively, were outstanding but not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.