Last year, Brittany Pressley never missed a football or basketball game. She involved herself in student groups, academic societies and made plans to live with five of her new best friends this year.

But three weeks before school began, Pressley’s plans were derailed by a letter explaining $34,000 of her student loans had been cut from her financial aid package. In tears, she realized coming back wasn’t an option.

Pressley is one of more than 250 students who didn’t return for their sophomore years this fall — a trend that is worsening, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment. The 2008 freshman class saw about 8 percent fewer students return for their sophomore years than the 2007 class did, but that number masks a significant loss of black and Latino students who didn’t return.

Pressley looked to the Office of Student Financial Aid for help, but she was told there wasn’t much they could do, she said. Realizing rising out-of-state tuition at this university was just too much, the former psychology major was forced to apply at the last minute to Rutgers University, close to her New Jersey home.

“There were just crazy thoughts going through my head,” she said. “It’s like, this is going to affect my career, my future. … It was traumatic.”

For universities, retention rates indicate a school’s prestige and its ability to effectively educate and graduate students. When retention rates rise or fall, potential students, parents and other institutions take notice.

Overall, retention rates at this university have been steadily on the rise at least since the early 1990s — IRPA reported in 1992 that 85 percent of freshmen returned for their second year. This year marks the first drop in retention since 2005.

University President Dan Mote said the drop in retention rates was disconcerting, but added for minority populations, statistical anomalies are more likely due to their size. The retention rates for black students have jumped around in recent years — the 2007 class saw a significant rise.

Mote said if the trend of fewer students retained continued, he might form a task force to address the issue.

Nationally, 25 percent of students don’t return to the college or university where they spent their freshman year, according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. This university’s retention rate is still well above that, at 93.2 percent for the 2008 class.

But for Mote, “any kind of drop is worrisome.”

Male students seem particularly prone to leaving the university. In the university’s black and Latino populations, men left after their first year in much higher numbers than their female peers.

But not all populations are at risk. Numbers of Asian-American and international students who returned for their second year increased significantly this year.

In a move to ensure that students return for their second years, university officials are targeting two key reasons for leaving: financials and academics.

The office of financial aid saw an enormous rise in aid appeals this year, officials have said. This apparent need prompted administrators to create a donation-based fund intended to help students with emergency financial need. The Keep Me Maryland campaign has raised more than $250,000 for students so far.

In an attempt to address the needs of academically vulnerable students, the university also began several “bridge” programs for newly admitted freshmen to take during the summer that teaches rising freshmen skills to succeed in college they may not have learned in high school.

But for students like Pressley, who had to abandon the life she had built at this university, the efforts are not enough.

Pressley said she is adjusting to life at Rutgers by attending Bible study, but said she hasn’t made many friends and is often lonely. If she can secure more loans, she hopes to return.

“I really, extremely miss UMD,” Pressley said. “I can go back and visit friends but I do hope to [re-enroll] next year.”

cwells at umdbk dot com