Navient is a U.S. corporation based in Wilmington, Delaware, whose operations include servicing and collecting on student loans. Managing nearly $300 billion in student loans for more than 12 million customers, the company was formed in 2014 by the split of Sallie Mae into two distinct entities, Sallie Mae Bank and Navient. Navient employs 6,000 individuals at offices across the U.S.

Navient was established in 1973 as a Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) called Student Loan Marketing Association (nicknamed Sallie Mae). The company was created by Congress to support the student loan program established by the Higher Education Act of 1965.

In 2004, Sallie Mae’s GSE charter dissolved and it became a private-sector company with an independent board.

The U.S. Department of Education selected Sallie Mae in 2009 to service federal loans on its behalf.

In 2010, Congress passed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which eliminated the federally guaranteed loan program known as Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), under which banks and companies like Sallie Mae made loans to college students backed by a federal guarantee. As a result, effective July 1, 2010, all federal loans were originated directly by the U.S. Department of Education.

The company announced in 2013 its plans to separate into two publicly traded companies – an education loan management business to be launched with a new name – Navient – and a consumer banking business, which retained the name Sallie Mae. The spin-off was completed on April 30, 2014.

In 2015, Navient attracted recognition from 2020 Women on Boards, the Women's Forum of New York, and the New York Stock Exchange Governance Services for gender diversity on its board of directors

The company acquired asset recovery and business process outsourcing firm, Gila LLC, and health care payments firm Xtend Healthcare.

Navient trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol NAVI. Navient holds the largest portfolio of education loans insurance or guaranteed under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, as well as the largest portfolio of Private Education Loans.

In 2014, Moody's downgraded Navient's senior unsecured debt and corporate family ratings to Ba3 because of its loss of the earnings, cash flows, equity and high leverage.

Jack Remondi is the CEO of Navient and has written and spoken about recommendations to improve the student loan program.

In 2016, Navient's PAC donated $30,000 to the Republican National Committee and $20,000 to the Democratic National Committee. The PAC has also donated to the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and Team Ryan

Navient funds most of its operation by manufacturing student loan asset-backed securities: bundling loans and selling them to investors as financial instruments. The SLABS are graded by bond rating agencies such as Moody's Investor Services and Fitch Ratings. The value of SLABS have been reduced as more students choose income-based repayment plans.

As of June 2016, a majority of the SLAB tranches continue to be downgraded.

In August 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has been investigating the company for nearly two years, sent Navient a letter telling its executives that the agency's enforcement staff had found enough evidence to indicate the company violated consumer protection laws.

On May 28, 2015, the United States Department of Justice announced that nearly 78,000 military service members would begin receiving $60 million in compensation for being charged excess interest on their student loans by Navient.

On March 14, 2016, Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a speech in Congress qualifying Navient's service and subsequent contract award by the Department of Education as an outrageous fiasco. Warren recommended "a total reform of student loan servicing to make sure that nothing as the Navient disaster ever happens again".

In June 2016, stockholders filed a class action lawsuit against Navient. The plaintiffs included Chicago police officers and retired city employees in Providence, Rhode Island.

On July 5, 2016, Guy Micciche filed a complaint against Navient in U.S. District Court alleging that the debt collector contacted the plaintiff, several times, on his cellular phone using an automated dialing system. In the complaints, the plaintiff alleged that he told Navient to stop calling him, but that the company persisted.

On January 18, 2017 the CFPB filed a complaint against Navient in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Act. The company released a public statement and fact sheetdenying the allegations and calling them politically motivated and harmful to borrowers.

Student Loan Justice is one group that has fought Navient by calling for bankruptcy laws to again include student loan debt.