Enforcement case record
Sallie Mae SCRA Settlement: $60 Million for 60,000 Servicemembers
- Defendant
- Sallie Mae (Navient Solutions, Navient DE Corporation, Sallie Mae Bank)
- Year
- 2014
- Scale
- About 60,000 servicemembers
- Statute
- 50 U.S.C. § 3937
- Court
- District of Delaware
- Outcome
- $60 million in compensation, with about 60,000 servicemembers estimated to receive payments, plus a $55,000 civil penalty. Sallie Mae also had to ask all three credit bureaus to delete negative entries caused by the overcharges and improper judgments, and to stand up a streamlined SCRA intake process.
What happened
This was the federal government’s first lawsuit against owners and servicers of student loans for violating servicemembers’ SCRA rights. The complaint alleged a nationwide pattern or practice, dating as far back as 2005, of failing to provide the 6 percent interest rate cap servicemembers were entitled to.
Three defendants were named collectively as Sallie Mae: Sallie Mae Inc. (now known as Navient Solutions Inc.), SLM DE Corporation (now known as Navient DE Corporation), and Sallie Mae Bank. The complaint further alleged that Sallie Mae Inc. and SLM DE Corporation improperly obtained default judgments against servicemembers.
The settlement reached the entire portfolio of student loans serviced by or on behalf of Sallie Mae: private student loans, direct Department of Education loans, and loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program.
The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937
Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service: read the statute.
Who was covered
Servicemembers with Sallie Mae serviced student loans taken out before military service who were entitled to the 6 percent cap during a period of service, across private, Direct, and FFEL loans.
What the settlement paid
- $60 million to compensate servicemembers for the alleged violations.
- The department estimated about 60,000 servicemembers would receive compensation.
- Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, with the settlement subject to that court’s approval.
Why this case matters
Student loans are the debt most likely to predate service, which is exactly the pre-service test the 6 percent cap turns on. If your loans moved to Navient, this is the case that covers the Sallie Mae era.
If you think you were affected
Rate-cap shortfalls are usually still fixable on a live account, because the 6% cap is retroactive to the first day of service once you send qualifying orders.
This page is a record of a public enforcement action against Sallie Mae. It is not a claim form, and this site cannot tell you whether you are in the covered group. These are the routes that can.
- Read the Justice Department’s own record: DOJ press release (May 13, 2014) . Settlement administration and any claim process are run from there, never from here.
- Start with how to request the 6% cap and get it backdated , which is the protection this case was brought under.
- Contact your nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance office. It is free for servicemembers and dependents, and it is the right first call on any SCRA question about your own accounts. Our guide to SCRA legal help explains the options.
- Confirm your covered dates before you argue about them. The Defense Manpower Data Center issues a free military status certificate; our walkthrough shows how to pull one.
Current SCRA policy and contact details for this company: our Sallie Mae SCRA guide .
Other rate cap cases
Every figure on this page is transcribed from the Justice Department record linked above, including its own hedges. Nothing is estimated or rounded. The ledger was last checked in full on July 11, 2026.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.