(WGHP) – More than 350,000 North Carolina residents would be out of student loan debt if $10,000 in student loans were forgiven, according to a report published by Lending Tree this month.

The approximately 363,504 North Carolina student borrowers who would have their entire student debt portfolio eliminated represent 29.2% of North Carolina borrowers.

According The report.

1.3 million from North Carolina have an average balance of $36,293 and monthly payments of $282.

This debt affects 12% of the 10.5 million people who live in NC.

Tens of millions of Americans are waiting to see if President Joe Biden will grant the widespread student debt forgiveness he endorsed as a presidential candidate.

He talked about canceling $10,000 per borrower, but the plan stalled when he asked Congress to pass the relief. With that body stuck, Biden recently said he’s still taking a “hard look” at the question.

Any course of action has enormous stakes.

More than 43 million Americans owe a combined student debt of $1.6 trillion to the federal government, according to the latest data from the Department of Education. This makes it one of the main sources of consumer debt in the country.

If Biden forgives all borrowers $10,000, it would eliminate federal student debt for a third of them, or about 13 million people. Another 20% would see their debt reduced by half or more.