Sallie Mae changes fee after online protest

2/3/2012

NEW YORK — Private student lender Sallie Mae is changing how it handles a fee it charges struggling borrowers who seek to temporarily suspend payments.

Sallie Mae isn’t canceling the $50 fee, but said it will apply the money toward the borrower’s loan balance if on-time payments are resumed for six months in a row. The change came after an online petition asking the company to drop the fee collected more than 77,000 signatures on Change.org.