I would do this except I would lose my $12,000 a semester in scholarship from my university. Most scholarships do seem to require continuous enrollment.
Also, students with deferred loans would need to begin paying those back.
I think it really depends on the specifics of your situation, which no one online will be able to help you with... At the very least, you could probably drop to a part-time student, which would maintain your scholarships and student loan status, while avoiding the full financial commitment.
Right. To be clear I wasn't seeking advice as I've already decided what I'm going to do. I was merely pointing out that it's more complicated than pausing enrollment and resuming when things get back to normal.
When I was a student (over a decade ago now) part time status only deferred my financial obligations if I was in my last semester and about to graduate.
You might very well be right, but it isn't obvious to me that putting off some key foundational learning while your brain is still forming is as reasonable as putting off a year of college. (Though I also have some vague memory of studies showing people who were older for their grade got more benefit than the younger students? This is a very vague memory, though.)
I would also argue, that this is what most parents should be doing for their younger kids too. We all know that remote learning sucks for young kids. You basically have to sacrifice one parent to just sit at home and help the kids through their online coursework. At that point, you're better off putting them in daycare for a year, working, and then re-enrolling them for the next year. Will they be behind a year? Sure, but they'll also have a big advantage over their peers who got a half-assed education from the past year and were forced into the next grade.