Few things:
1. If you want to drop out of uni, you should consider speaking to a uni counsellor. I dunno what your circumstances are, but I hear that the counsellors are pretty good and give awesome advice,
2. if it came to a choice of deferring or dropping out, and there was no advantage for dropping out, you should defer. Keep your options open,
3. there is no advantage that I can see when it comes to dropping out. Deferring gives you a guaranteed place for one year, unless you undertake other tertiary studies during that period. If you wish to undertake tertiary studies at another place, you need to contact the uni to let them know. Something to note is that you can only defer once in your degree. However if you're considering dropping out, I spose that's not an issue...
4. I assume you're referring to this semester with the fees - ie, you've already paid for this semester? If you defer, you usually defer your fee payments for the upcoming year before you pay for them.
If you're referring to past, completed semesters, sorry, you've paid your fees and have an academic record for it. You cannot get a refund for semesters completed past the financial penalty date.
If you mean that you've already paid upfront and intend to defer, contact SES, because I assume that they'll either reimburse you, or, less likely, hold the money for a year.
It's probably the same situation as if you pay upfront and then drop the unit -- ie, getting a direct refund.
In any case, I'd definitely talk with a counsellor. Sometimes we talk to a lot of people and get advice, but somehow manage to miss the important bits! Talking with a counsellor will definitely increase the chance of you making the correct decision.
I'm sure someone will know about refunding already-paid fees (someone who's dropped a unit after paying for it, probably), but I don't think anyone will disagree with a) seeing a counsellor, and b) deferring rather than dropping.
Hope that helps.
