Haha, 51K does sound like a lot. XD Yeah, ours definitely don't work like that. If you graduate and then go on for more schooling, the loans will be deferred until you finish that, and I believe you can try to get it deferred some more if you're not in school but are unemployed or something, but nothing like what you're talking about.

And I think pretty much everywhere in the world tuition is much cheaper than the US. When I was in college, I went to a state school (cheaper than private schools) and tuition was much lower than it is today (it has risen really steeply) and it was about $3900 a year, which is on the extremely cheap end. Many people pay more like $39,000 a year or more.