UPDATE 1-Sallie Mae hires Goldman to explore options

* SLM hired Goldman to explore strategic options-source

* Mulls sale of student-loan servicing business-NY Post (Adds new source)

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. education lender SLM Corp SLM.N, known as Sallie Mae, has hired Goldman Sachs Inc (GS.N) to explore strategic options for the company, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The options include selling or spinning off its student-loan servicing business and its $145 billion government-subsidized loan portfolio, the New York Post reported.

Sallie Mae has also considered converting part of its platform into a traditional deposit-taking bank, a source told the Post.

Last week, shares of Sallie Mae fell 11 percent after the lender said it would set aside more money to meet possible losses from its private-credit portfolio and it failed to provide details on its much-awaited restructuring plan. [ID:nSGE66K0J7]

Sallie Mae was not immediately available for comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal in New York and Jennifer Robin Raj in Bangalore; Editing by Erica Billingham and Richard Chang)