Earnings Per Common Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Earnings per Common Share

Basic earnings per common share (“EPS”) are calculated using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period. A reconciliation of the numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted EPS calculations follows.


	Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands, except per share data)	2020		2019		2018
Numerator:
Net income	$	880,690	$	578,276	$	487,476
Preferred stock dividends	9,734		16,837		15,640
Net income attributable to SLM Corporation common stock	$	870,956	$	561,439	$	471,836
Denominator:
Weighted average shares used to compute basic EPS	383,705		427,292		435,054
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive effect of stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance stock units and Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) (1)(2)	3,490		3,382		4,627
Weighted average shares used to compute diluted EPS	387,195		430,674		439,681

Basic earnings per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	2.27	$	1.31	$	1.08

Diluted earnings per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	2.25	$	1.30	$	1.07

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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, performance stock units and the outstanding commitment to issue shares under the ESPP, determined by the treasury stock method.

(2) For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, securities covering no shares, no shares and less than one million shares, respectively, were outstanding but not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.