NIU has turned down an offer from Outside the Classroom Inc. to participate in its AlcoholEdu program.

AlcoholEdu is an online alcohol awareness and education program that demands three hours of student participation. The program is currently utilized by more than 500 institutions of higher education and about 3,200 Greek chapters across the country. Of those institutions, 200 of them require freshmen to take the program.

Only six schools in Illinois – Augustana College, Concordia University-Chicago, Eastern Illinois University, Illinois College, Lake Forest College and Loyola University – use the program.

Cost was the reason behind NIU turning down the offer, said Brandi Hephner LaBanc, assistant vice president for planning and operations.

“AlcoholEdu makes sales calls to our Health Enhancement department, but their product is too cost prohibitive at this point for us to pursue,” Hephner LaBanc said.

Erika Tower, director of marketing and communications for Outside the Classroom, said the price varies from college to college, depending on the size of the institution. In the case of having the program as a requirement for freshmen, it depends on the size of the freshman class, she said.

“It works out to be roughly around $10 per student,” Tower said.

Outside the Classroom estimates that 25 to 35 percent of all college freshmen currently participate in the program.

Brandon Busteed, CEO and founder of Outside the Classroom, feels AlcoholEdu should and can be as important for students to participate in as driver’s education.

“We want the AlcoholEdu program to make sure that the students understand what alcohol is, what it does, how to help their friends, but certainly reinforce in them that the choice not to drink is a perfectly normal, healthy decision,” Busteed said.

Though NIU has chosen not to utilize AlcoholEdu, there are other outlets of information and resources on campus for students to learn about alcohol related issues.

The Health Enhancement Outreach, located in the Chick Evans Field House, provides help for alcohol related matters as well as information on dieting, exercising, sexual abuse, tobacco and drug abuse, sleep, stress and eating disorders.