When I compare my school loan statements and my credit card statement and my car loan it appears to me that school loans operate like credit card debt?

Am I correct in thinking that school loan debt is managed like credit card debt in that interest continues to compound making it very difficult to pay it off by paying the minimum payment. With a car loan you have an interest rate determine and divided amongst your payments and if you pay more earlier in the debt it greatly reduces what you will pay and the debt ends earlier. I have noticed that despite beginning payments before they were due on several loans and compounding payments I still now owe more than what was originally borrowed.