What further plays into it, is that in the U.S. colleges operate on a “class of” system and there is strong expectation that full-time studies must last 4 years, at most a year more.
That leaves students with either/or decisions – find money, or drop out completely.
Other countries, with publicly-funded higher education, don’t impose such arbitrary limits. It’s normal for people to take as many or few credits each year as they can manage/afford, potentially while holding a part time job, possibly even taking care of family life.
There are no freshman dorms, nor sophomores, juniors or seniors. People take courses towards a major and at some point they will have the necessary requirements for their sought-after degrees.