I think a lot of people took a gap year last year (who otherwise wouldn’t have). Why pay for college if you won’t get to actually go?
Many of those people are showing up now as applicants.
To graduate faster
That's perhaps the logical answer if the certificate is the outcome you care about. But I know a lot of students who decided that it made more sense just to take the year off and go back to school when things were hopefully more normal again.
I could have been clearer. I agree with you [in that I wouldn't have personally delayed], but I think a substantial fraction of the college-bound crowd made that tradeoff calculation.
Bringing an anecdotal evidence to your question. That's actually what I did. Currently taking a gap year (more like two) to go study a MSc in AI. I have a previous background and experience in finance.