They didn't know repayments start right away. Neither did I actually. ...
In the US here: I was delighted when I filled out all the forms and was notified that my oldest son qualified for a grant for college. I thought "grant" meant something like "scholarship" means. Like, he was given money. Not so. It meant "loan," like, I was indebted for money they gave him. But they didn't make that clear for some months. This was at the end of spring,. I got notice that I needed to pay starting in the fall. That was when the "grant"/"loan" matter clarified. The payment seemed high, so I ran the number and it was. I called. They said, "Well, we roll the interest into principal from May to September, and then start the payment based on the new principal." I was pissed. So I paid it off.
The next year he got another "grant." I was notified in May and sent a check in May. They called: "What's this check?" I told them I was starting payment.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. Your first payment is in September."
"I'm doing it now."
"Well, we really aren't set up to receive it now."
"You have to accept it, so you better get set up now."
"But. But why would you want to start paying now, when you can wait?"
"Credit the account. You will get the next check in June."
So one of those situations where some entity has set up a system to cheat you, with the best motives in the world, and their employees seem genuinely convinced they are only doing it in your best interests. To
help you. In later decades I would see the same thing redoubled in spades in the health care system. I would see it in mortgages where you could pay P+I each month, like normal; or interest only each month, or a special minimum payment that very few qualified for, which was less than interest, and meant your loan would last as long as Ozymandias' disjecta membra. I note it is trying to play out now in politics.