What's next for North Carolinians with student debt

The big picture: Trump has repeatedly bashed the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plans and pledged to dismantle the Department of Education. He has not, however, said how he would handle the mounting debt in another White House term.

By the numbers: Around 1.3 million North Carolinians, or roughly 12% of the state, owe more than $52 billion in student loans, federal data shows.

• That equates to around $38,770 per borrower — a higher number than the national average per-borrower amount, which is about $36,200.
• D.C. leads the nation in student debt, owing around $54,800 per borrower, followed by Maryland ($43,692) and Georgia ($42,026).

Catch up quick: After the conservative-majority Supreme Court blocked Biden's signature student loan forgiveness plan last year, his administration still found ways to deliver relief to some borrowers by circumventing the need for Congressional or court approval.

Yes, but the next Trump administration could roll back the efforts through similar regulatory changes.

• "The future of student loan debt forgiveness may be in jeopardy with an incoming Trump administration, which may be unlikely to appeal rulings in the ongoing lawsuits targeting the SAVE plan and Biden's Plan B," NerdWallet lending expert Kate Wood told Axios.

• On the other hand, Wood said, plans created by Congress, like Public ServiceLoanForgiveness, "could be tougher to eliminate but could also be made less accessible."

Zoom in: One bright spot is that college tuition at public universities in North Carolina remains much cheaper than its peers across the country.

• In-state tuition and fees at North Carolina's public schools averaged $7,470, the third cheapest in the entire country.