Teach Others Your Save- and Pay-for-College Strategies and You Could Win $10,000

Sharing your smart strategies for saving and paying for college during April’s Financial Literacy Month, gives you a chance to win $10,000 in this year’s Tuition Tales contest from Upromise by Sallie Mae. Parents and college students (current and former), all it takes to compete is a 30-second video on your tips that will help others plan, save or pay for higher education expenses.

"Winning Upromise’s Tuition Tales made my first year so much easier financially... I can actually sleep at night! This is such a great opportunity for students to use their creativity, both in making the video AND in finding ways to rack up the votes! Thanks again to Upromise for helping students just go for it!” said Chris Rehmann, of Gulfport, MS, a $10,000 2009 Tuition Tale winner and freshman at NYU.

Currently in its third year, Tuition Tales was developed to jumpstart national conversations about saving and paying for college. Now through May 5, 2010, Upromise members can upload entries revealing their savvy college planning, paying or saving strategies at www.upromise.com/tuition-tales. Upromise will award two grand prizes -- $10,000 for higher education – to contestants who submit the best video in the Saving-for-College Strategies and Paying-for-College Strategies categories. Those two winners and eight other finalists will also win a $500 Bank of America® Visa® Gift Card. Official rules and entry materials are available at www.upromise.com/tuition-tales.

"Saving for or paying for college can be daunting,” said Edward Scannell, director of Upromise and hobbyist director and filmmaker who helped create this year’s program. "Tuition Tales encourages people across the country to think about and share their creative strategies to invest and succeed in higher education.”

Videos will be judged on quality, fit to theme and creativity. Accepted video entries will be viewable online so that the general public may cast votes. Both online voting and a panel review will determine the top 10 finalists in each category. The public will determine, via online voting May 12-26, who wins the two $10,000 grand prizes.

Upromise by Sallie Mae is a free program designed to help families and students plan, save and pay for college. The money earned from everyday spending with Upromise partners goes directly into a Upromise account where members can choose to invest their earnings in a high-yield savings account or tax-deferred 529 plan; use it to pay down a student loan; or request a check that can be used for college or other expenses.

SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, is the nation’s leading provider of saving, planning and paying for education programs. Through its subsidiaries, the company manages $192 billion in education loans and serves 10 million student and parent customers. Through its Upromise affiliates, the company also manages more than $21 billion in 529 college-savings plans, and is a major, private source of college funding contributions in America with 11 million members and more than $525 million in member rewards. Upromise membership is free and can help families save money for college while making everyday purchases of products and services at more than 21,000 grocery and drug stores, 10,000 gas stations, 8,500 restaurants, as well as over a hundred retail store locations, and over 700 online shopping sites. Upromise participating companies include Bank of America, ExxonMobil Corporation, BedBathandBeyond.com, McDonald’s®, JCPenney.com, LandsEnd.com, Sears.com and hundreds of others. Upromise also makes it easy for families to start their own college savings strategy through tax-advantaged 529 college savings plans offered through Upromise Investments, Inc. or by using Upromise contributions to help pay down eligible student loans. For additional information, visit upromise.com. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.