Dive Brief:

• SLM Corporation CFO Steven J. McGarry has entered into a retention plan with the company, according to a statement released on Friday. 
• The outgoing finance chief at “Sallie Mae” will remain in his position through February 2024, when he plans to retire, and will “assist with the selection of the next CFO and will facilitate the orderly transition of the role to his successor,” the statement said. 
• The retention plan announcement follows the start of Supreme Court review of the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. Two sets of plaintiffs last week argued that the plan exceeds limits on executive branch authority

Dive Insight:

Some conservative Supreme Court’s justices last week implied that they do not support the Biden administration’s plans to wipe out $400 million in federal student loan debt.

Meanwhile, some liberal constituency groups are urging President Biden to resort to an alternative plan if necessary. The loan relief plan remains on shaky legal ground, USA Today reported. 

Newark, Del.-based Sallie Mae has said that the relief program is for federal loans only, and that they will not be forgiving private student loans issued by Sallie Mae. 

McGarry joined Sallie Mae in 1997 as a director of investments and has also held various financial roles with the company, including director of corporate finance and senior vice president of corporate finance, according to his LinkedIn profile. He took the CFO seat back in 2014. 

“He’s been a trusted adviser to me, our entire executive leadership team, and our board of directors and he will certainly be missed when he retires next year. We wish him the very best,” said Jon Witter, CEO of the company, in the statement. 

Sallie Mae is currently conducting an “extensive search” for McGarry’s replacement, the statement said. 

CFOs are logging the shortest tenure among C-suite executives. CFOs at the largest U.S. listed companies stepped down from their posts after an average term of just 3.51 years from 2016 until 2021, according to a recent study from DataRails. 

Finance leaders are facing increased pressures from a variety of directions — high interest rates, the possibility of a recession and pressure for increased spending on things like technology and automation — which may increase turnover. 

Meanwhile, as CFOs leave their posts, the crunch for talent in the accounting industry is tight, with nearly 35% of accountants citing in a recent study that finding the right talent was among their three biggest practice management issues during the past year, compared to just 14% who cited it last year, CFO Dive reported. 

McGarry joins fellow CFOs Tom Sweet of Dell Technologies and Vasant Prabhu of Visa Inc., who also recently announced their retirements.