Student loans are always simple interest. The only time the interest compounds is when it is changed from ‘deferred’ status to ‘repayment’ status.
My daughter’s loans just converted, one in Aug, one with the first payment due Nov. 15. In both cases, she was given the amount of interest that had accrued and given the chance to pay it off before it compounded.
The student can always make the interest only payments along the way. If you need to know how much that is, you can find it online, but you are really no worse off paying it all at once right before it compounds (if you have the discipline to save that interest while in deferment).