Student Loan to cut 174 jobs in a bid to reduce costs

(Reuters) - The Student Loan Corp, a unit of Citigroup Inc's Citibank N.A., said it will cut 174 jobs to reduce costs in a difficult student lending environment.

Of the total job cuts, 146 positions will be with Student Loan while an additional 28 positions will be at Citibank, the company said in a statement.

Most of the jobs will be discontinued in August 2008.

Recently, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company suspended lending at certain schools and withdrew from the Federal Consolidation Loan market because of market turmoil and federal legislation.

In April, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill calling for federal intervention to stabilize the student loan market amid turmoil brought on by the mortgage crisis.

Shares of the company were up 1 percent at $106.51 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Bernard Orr)