Exhibit 99.1

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NELNET   121 South 13th Street, Suite 400   P 402 458 2370    www.nelnet.net
         Lincoln, NE  68506                 F 402 458 2344    NELNET CORPORATE
                                                              SERVICES, INC.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------



MEDIA CONTACT: Sheila Odom, 402.458.2329
INVESTOR CONTACT: Cheryl Watson, 317.469.2064

For immediate release

NELNET ANNOUNCES ACQUISITIONS OF STUDENT MARKETING GROUP AND NATIONAL HONOR ROLL

(LINCOLN, NE) - Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE: NNI) announced today it has acquired Student
Marketing Group, Inc. and National Honor Roll, L.L.C.

Student Marketing Group is a full service direct marketing agency providing a
wide range of products and services to help businesses cost effectively reach
the middle school, high school, college bound high school, college, and young
adult marketplace. A division of Student Marketing Group, College Bound
Selection Service provides marketing services and college bound student lists to
college and university admissions offices nationwide. In addition, Student
Marketing Group operates AllScholar.com, a free scholarship search Web site.

National Honor Roll recognizes middle and high school students for exceptional
academic success by providing publication in the NATIONAL HONOR ROLL
COMMEMORATIVE EDITION, as well as scholarships, a College Admissions
Notification Service, and notice to local newspapers and elected officials.

"Student Marketing Group and National Honor Roll each bring a strong reputation
and a wealth of different experiences building marketing relationships with
students and schools," said Stephen Butterfield, Vice Chairman and Co-Chief
Executive Officer of Nelnet. "These acquisitions will further diversify our
revenue stream and provide an opportunity to leverage their intellectual capital
and wealth of direct marketing expertise in our future
operations."

Based in Lynbrook, New York, Student Marketing Group and National Honor Roll
will operate as separate, wholly owned subsidiaries of Nelnet. Each company will
retain its brand identity, management, and employee base.

Student Marketing Group founder and President Jan Stumacher said: "We are
excited to join the Nelnet family. The combined companies will make tremendous
resources available to our customers."

The purchase price of the acquisitions will range between $31 million and $51
million, based on the performance of the acquired companies. The acquisitions
are expected to be immediately accretive, though not material, to Nelnet's base
net income.

                                       ###



Nelnet is one of the leading education finance companies in the United States
and is focused on providing quality student loan products and services to
students and schools nationwide. With more than $13 billion in student loan
assets, Nelnet originates in excess of $3 billion for itself and its service
partners annually, and its servicing software is used by approximately 35
clients, including Nelnet, to service more than $50 billion in student loans.
Nelnet ranks among the nation's leaders in terms of total student loan assets.

Nelnet offers a broad range of student loan and financial services and
technology-based products, including student loan origination and lending,
guarantee servicing, and a suite of software solutions. Our products are
designed to simplify the student loan process by automating financial aid
delivery, loan processing, and funds disbursement. Our services help to
facilitate and streamline education finance for all involved in the industry,
including student and parent borrowers, lenders, financial aid officers,
guaranty agencies, governmental agencies, servicers, and the capital markets.

Additional information is available at www.nelnet.net.