There are no pre-payment penalties on any of the Federal Loans or Institutional Loans offered through Brown. This means borrowers may begin early if they choose and pay the loan in full early with no penalties.
Interest does not accrue on most loans during school or grace period. The Direct Unsubsidized Loan and PLUS Loan are the exception to this, and interest does accrue during this time. Making payments during a grace period is a good way to reduce the overall loan balance since payments are applied directly toward the principal balance for any subsidized loans (Direct Subsidized, Perkins, and all Brown University Institutional Loans).