Earnings (Loss) per Common Share (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

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)	2021		2020		2021		2020
Numerator:
Net income (loss)	$	140,201	$	(85,211)	$	781,408	$	276,962
Preferred stock dividends	1,192		2,478		2,393		5,942
Net income (loss) attributable to SLM Corporation common stock	$	139,009	$	(87,689)	$	779,015	$	271,020
Denominator:
Weighted average shares used to compute basic EPS	312,183		375,009		336,478		392,397
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)	4,936		—		5,066		2,794
Weighted average shares used to compute diluted EPS	317,119		375,009		341,544		395,191
Basic earnings (loss) per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	0.45	$	(0.23)	$	2.32	$	0.69
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share attributable to SLM Corporation	$	0.44	$	(0.23)	$	2.28	$	0.69

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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 three months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, securities covering approximately 1 million shares and 7 million shares, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, securities covering approximately 1 million shares and 3 million shares, respectively, were outstanding but not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.