CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 1,435,649	$ 1,534,339
Available-for-sale investments at fair value (cost of $236,761 and $247,607, respectively)	229,114	244,088
Loans held for investment (net of allowance for losses of $272,123 and $251,475, respectively)	20,166,604	18,567,641
Restricted cash	120,084	101,836
Other interest-earning assets	31,637	21,586
Accrued interest receivable	1,063,449	967,482
Premises and equipment, net	97,211	89,748
Tax indemnification receivable	169,242	168,011
Other assets	93,332	84,853
Total assets	23,406,322	21,779,584
Liabilities
Deposits	16,498,646	15,505,383
Short-term borrowings	0	0
Long-term borrowings	3,744,345	3,275,270
Income taxes payable, net	145,167	102,285
Upromise member accounts	233,015	243,080
Other liabilities	175,316	179,310
Total liabilities	20,796,489	19,305,328
Commitments and contingencies
Equity
Common stock, par value $0.20 per share, 1.125 billion shares authorized: 449.0 million and 443.5 million shares issued, respectively	89,805	88,693
Additional paid-in capital	1,252,609	1,222,277
Accumulated other comprehensive income (net of tax expense of $5,005 and $1,696, respectively)	15,601	2,748
Retained earnings	990,447	868,182
Total SLM Corporation stockholders’ equity before treasury stock	2,748,462	2,581,900
Less: Common stock held in treasury at cost: 13.8 million and 11.1 million shares, respectively	(138,629)	(107,644)
Total equity	2,609,833	2,474,256
Total liabilities and equity	23,406,322	21,779,584
Series B Preferred Stock
Equity
Series B: 4 million and 4 million shares issued, respectively, at stated value of $100 per share	$ 400,000	$ 400,000