I think most schools would allow the scholarships to continue if there was a major illness and the student had to take a semester off, but both my kids had merit awards that were for 8 semesters, period. My daughter also had the option of doing co-ops through the school but the merit money was only for 8 semesters.
She had two teammates who did need an extra semester to graduate. They had wealthy parents who paid for that extra semester because their athletic eligibility/scholarships were used up, and if either had a merit scholarship (I think one did and one didn’t) it also would be exhausted. My daughter doesn’t have a wealthy parent so she had to finish on time. It’s her reality. She had the flu twice in one semester and had to power through. She had one class she dropped and had to fit that back into another semester.
My other daughter took summer classes at our local university (at instate rates) in order to graduate on time and retain her ‘8 consecutive semesters’ merit award. You have to keep your eyes on the requirements and the limitations ($$$).