Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Reconciliations of Statutory U.S. Federal Income Tax Rates to our Effective Tax Rate

Reconciliations of the statutory U.S. federal income tax rates to our effective tax rate for continuing operations follow:

 

Years ended December 31,	2024		2023		2022
Statutory rate	21.0	%	21.0	%	21.0	%
State tax, net of federal benefit	2.3		3.8		4.1
Business credits	(2.0)		(1.3)		(1.5)
Other, net	2.5		1.8		2.0
Effective tax rate	23.8	%	25.3	%	25.6	%

Components of Provision for Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax expense consists of:

 

As of December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2024		2023		2022
Current provision (benefit):
Federal	$	181,132	$	175,977	$	205,954
State	43,506		44,152		49,427
Total current provision (benefit)	224,638		220,129		255,381
Deferred provision (benefit):
Federal	(19,032)		(20,687)		(75,978)
State	(15,295)		(2,537)		(17,692)
Total deferred provision (benefit)	(34,327)		(23,224)		(93,670)
Provision for income tax expense	$	190,311	$	196,905	$	161,711

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effect of temporary differences that give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities is summarized below.

As of December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2024		2023
Deferred tax assets:
Loan reserves	$	376,029	$	354,412
Net unrealized losses	21,209		24,176
Accrued expenses not currently deductible	19,841		16,297
Unrecorded tax benefits	12,008		11,568
Research and development costs	38,119		26,519
Stock-based compensation plans	12,885		10,847
Acquired intangible assets	16,394		14,536
Operating loss carryovers	—		26
Other	1,785		1,426
Total deferred tax assets	498,270		459,807
Deferred tax liabilities:
Student loan premiums and discounts, net	22,873		15,908
Fixed assets	7,708		8,533
Federal deferred for state receivable	1,908		1,171
Other	402		614
Total deferred tax liabilities	32,891		26,226
Net deferred tax assets	$	465,379	$	433,581

Summary of Changes in Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The following table summarizes changes in unrecognized tax benefits:

 

As of December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2024		2023		2022
Unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of year	$	68,123	$	79,366	$	75,328
Increases resulting from tax positions taken during a prior period	1,232		1,204		6,049
Decreases resulting from tax positions taken during a prior period	(1,890)		(250)		(1,327)
Increases resulting from tax positions taken during the current period	3,218		2,711		11,032
Decreases related to settlements with taxing authorities	(18,349)		(10,089)		(4,666)
Reductions related to the lapse of statute of limitations	(3,927)		(4,819)		(7,050)
Unrecognized tax benefits at end of year	$	48,407	$	68,123	$	79,366