Oversight hearings on the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) are presented. Sallie Mae was established by the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide liquidity for Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) lenders by purchasing GSL portfolios from lenders or making loans on GSL loans held by lenders. In 1982, Sallie Mae had total cumulative interest earning assets in excess of $5 billion. Currently, the Association also consolidates student loans, serving as a direct lender in areas where there are inadequate loans available from commercial lenders. Attention is directed, in the course of the hearings, to the Association's operations, its financial structure, its status in the private sector, and its future operating plans. Details are provided on its growth and assets, earnings, and dividends. Attention is also directed to new authorities of Sallie Mae, including the bankruptcy priority, the consolidation authority, the purchase of a savings and loan company, the question of whether it is subject to state taxation, and other state-related concerns. It is noted that the Association is both a quasi-governmental private corporation that has corporate responsibilities to its shareholders, and, on the other hand, a public purpose or a public responsibility to insure GSL access to students. (SW)