What is the purpose of the grace period of a student loan?

While a person is registered as a student, they do not have to make payments on their student loan and the loan will not accrue interest. The grace period of a student loan is the period that occurs once you have completed your studies and are no longer registered as a student. Once you are no longer a student, you typically have a 6 month period (will vary depending on location) upon completion of your studies before you must start paying back your student loan. During the grace period, your student loan will still not accrue any interest. The reason for this is to allow the student enough time to seek employment before they start paying back their loans. Ideally the student will find work in this grace period and will be able to make payments on the loan once the grace period is complete. Otherwise, the student would continue to go further into debt the second they have completed school.