General Info

For over a decade, Outside The Classroom has been steadfast in its endeavor to strengthen the field of alcohol prevention. We provide institutional leaders and their students with the information and tools they need to develop well-informed, cost-effective strategies for reducing alcohol-related risk and preventing harm. Through our world-class expertise, tradition of innovation, and comprehensive approach, we offer unparalleled effectiveness in changing behavior and ensuring that prevention dollars are well spent. In 2011, Outside The Classroom merged with EverFi, Inc., an organization that shares our deep commitment to helping young adults develop critical life skills that allow them to achieve their full potential. EverFi is considered one of the major new forces in the education space, with its flagship online financial literacy programs used in more than 3000 high schools, and in colleges and universities across the US. The combined expertise of both organizations has strengthened our pursuit of using technology to help students make better decisions in a variety of areas. Institutions will now be able to partner with us to achieve student learning outcomes and behavior change in financial literacy, student loan default prevention, digital literacy, alcohol and other drug prevention, and additional areas that focus on critical aspects of student life. Outside The Classroom has helped hundreds of educational institutions nationwide and become a leader in alcohol prevention research and program development. We have reached more than two million students with our flagship educational program, AlcoholEdu. In the 2009-2010 academic year, 36% of first-year students at America's four-year institutions will take the course. In 2008, we donated $75, 000 in awards to students, practitioners, university presidents, institutions, and Greek organizations, in recognition of their dedication to improving alcohol prevention efforts and achieving measurable outcomes. And in 2008, we created The Alcohol Prevention Coalition with our partners to provide colleges and universities with an unmatched resource for developing "state of the art" in alcohol prevention. In recent years, funding for alcohol prevention research has dwindled from both public and private sources. Outside The Classroom is dedicated to filling this void and has become the largest single funder of alcohol prevention research nationwide. In 1999, Brandon Busteed was in the unique position of serving on the Duke University Board of Trustees as a Young Trustee. A recent graduate and former Class President, Brandon saw the issue of alcohol from the student perspective all the way to the board - and realized not only how big the problem was but also how complex it was... read more In 2009, the American Business Awards honored Outside The Classroom with a Stevie Award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program, touting the organization as a shining case study of social entrepreneurship. Social responsibility is part of our DNA, and Outside The Classroom has become a prime example of a new breed of social change organizations (as profiled by the New York Times in 2009). What is a social change organization? We believe these organizations share three common traits: (1) they have self-sustaining revenue; (2) they are rigorously engaged in shaping policy, and (3) they focus on work that has a social value. Outside The Classroom and EverFi share a deep commitment to launching businesses that address social needs, and we are committed to helping today's young adults acheive their full potential.