Earnings (Loss) per Common Share (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

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   September 30,				Nine Months Ended   September 30,
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)	2024		2023		2024		2023
Numerator:
Net income (loss)	$	(45,152)	$	29,365	$	496,772	$	412,948
Preferred stock dividends	4,648		4,642		13,929		12,979
Net income (loss) attributable to SLM Corporation common stock	$	(49,800)	$	24,723	$	482,843	$	399,969
Denominator:
Weighted average shares used to compute basic EPS	214,873		226,120		218,059		234,170
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)	—		2,680		3,494		2,423
Weighted average shares used to compute diluted EPS	214,873		228,800		221,553		236,593
Basic earnings (loss) per common share	$	(0.23)	$	0.11	$	2.21	$	1.71
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share	$	(0.23)	$	0.11	$	2.18	$	1.69

(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 September 30, 2024 and 2023, securities covering approximately 6 million shares and 1 million shares, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, securities covering approximately less than 1 million shares and 1 million shares, respectively, were outstanding but not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because they were anti-dilutive.