President Biden has previously said he wanted to work to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt.
New data reveals that it would take just $50,000 in student loan debt to erase the burden from 36 million borrowers, according to a report from the Department of Education released Tuesday.
The data was requested from the Education Secretary by Sen. Elizabeth Warren who now serves as the chairwoman of the Senate Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Policy.
Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and other Democratic lawmakers introduced a resolution in early February calling for President Joe Biden to use his presidential authority to erase up to $50,000 in student loan debt.
President Biden has previously said he agrees with canceling $10,000 of student loan debt. If that were accomplished, it would provide relief to about 15 million borrowers.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said that Biden asked for a memo on his legal authority to approve $50,000 student loan debt forgiveness, CBS News reported.
Data reveals that 4.4 million borrowers have been paying off student loan debt for more than 20 years after graduating, totaling $211 billion, according to CBS News. An additional 10.7 million borrowers have been paying back loans for more than a decade, totaling $458 million.
Student loan debt is now the second-largest amount of debt for householders in the country behind mortgages.
