Earnings Per Common Share (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 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.

Years ended December 31, (amounts in thousands, except per share data)	2021		2020		2019
Numerator:
Net income	$	1,160,513	$	880,690	$	578,276
Preferred stock dividends	4,736		9,734		16,837
Net income attributable to SLM Corporation common stock	$	1,155,777	$	870,956	$	561,439
Denominator:
Weighted average shares used to compute basic EPS	314,993		383,705		427,292
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)	4,919		3,490		3,382
Weighted average shares used to compute diluted EPS	319,912		387,195		430,674
Basic earnings per common share	$	3.67	$	2.27	$	1.31
Diluted earnings per common share	$	3.61	$	2.25	$	1.30

(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, 2021, 2020, and 2019, securities covering 1 million shares, no shares and no shares, respectively, were outstanding but not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.