Student loans make higher education a possibility for millions of people. If you are planning to use student loans to fund your high education, there is one company that will quickly come to the forefront for your efforts. Sallie Mae is that company.

Just how big is this student loan behemoth? It is huge. Over 10 million people have taken out student loans with it. The total amount borrowed? A stagging one hundred and thirty billion dollars. That's a lot of education!

So, who was the bright entrepreneur who thought up Sallie Mae? This may shock you, but it was the federal government. Created in 1972, Sallie Mae was a quasi-government agency formed for the purpose of administering government backed student loans.

Over the next three decades, the quasi-agency carried out its task with little publicity or issue. It is hard to overestimate how many people, myself included, were able to go to college because of the work done by it.

After two and half decades, a decision was made that would change Sallie Mae for ever. It was privatized. The transition from non-government agency took seven years. In 2004, it was complete and the stock of Sallie Mae was available to all.

As a publically traded company, the issue is no longer getting people into and through higher education. The bottom line is now the focus. This evolution has spawned serious criticism of the entity and how it conducts its business.

Last year, an large investment fund made an offer to purchase the company for many billions of dollars. This would have effectively taken the entity private. Controversy raged and the deal fell through due to credit problems.

The evolution of Sallie Mae from friendly government agency to publicly traded company has involved the creation of a certain predator element. The company have been warned and sued by states for breaking laws while seeking repayments.

Further evidencing its predator tendencies, the company has been caught pressuring colleges to turn over student information. The resulting furor caused the company to disavow said practices. At least, for the time being.

The company may have evolved to a bottom line predator in one sense, but there is litte doubt it still plays a critical role in our society. Without Sallie Mae, higher education would not be a possibility for many people.