If you defer acceptance to a school for a year (which is approved by the school of my choosing, that isn’t the issue), can you study part-time at a local community college or branch campus of a different university?
You can (if agreed by your school) but they are unlikely to transfer the credit earned at a different institution.
Of course you can study somewhere else, BUT you would now become a transfer student.
Your acceptance was based on the stats of an incoming freshman, correct? Did you receive any merit or scholarships with your acceptance? You could lose those if you now are a transfer student.
Call the school and find out for sure.
CCs in our area offer two different statuses - one is ‘enrolled student’ and you might be considered a transfer. The other is ‘adult learner’ who is just taking courses for enrichment but isn’t generating a transcript. Check if your CC makes a distinction so when you talk to your college you can be clear about what kind of enrollment you would have at the CC. It might not matter to your school - they may say it’s a transfer no matter what - but you may get some slack if, say, you are just signed up for a class to practice your spoken foreign language skills, learning to use a computer app, an art class, or some other typical ‘adult learner’ class.
You can see from the range of responses it is best to call the school and ask first.
@PERplexD I am actually already a transfer student. I finished my freshman year at Penn State main, I applied to a few schools and was accepted as a transfer; however, I decided to defer my acceptance for a semester or a year and was still hoping to take classes part-time in the mean time to get gen eds over with and continue exploring the fields I want to go into