Mortuary Science Education

Mortuary science education is designed to train individuals to become funeral directors and embalmers and assist them to meet state-imposed licensing requirements. Postsecondary mortuary science programs are most prominent in the United States and Canada. This is due, in part, to the high rates of embalming in these two countries, combined with governmental licensing requirements for funeral practitioners. Internationally, most training of funeral workers is done through apprenticeships. Japan, for instance, which adopted a national examination for funeral workers in the 1990s, has only two schools with programs in funeral direction. In the United Kingdom, formalized mortuary science education programs were instituted in 2008 (at the University of Chester and the University of Bath). In Australia, there are no educational requirements for funeral workers, though there are six programs that award nationally recognized certificates. Similarly, New Zealand has one university that offers two separate degrees for funeral work but does not require its funeral workers to hold a degree.

Although most countries lack formal education requirements for funeral workers, many national trade associations are attempting to introduce legislation to mandate educational prerequisites in [Page 756]their respective countries. The International Federation of Thanatologists Associations (IFTA), founded in 1970 and headquartered in Monaco and the Netherlands, includes Canada and the United States as members. One of the objectives of the IFTA is to advocate for global educational and regulatory standards for funeral workers that are uniformly administered.

Most funeral workers in the United States and Canada are required by law to be licensed to practice their trades. However, only some funeral workers are required to have formal education, a requirement that varies from state to state or province to province. In the United States, where workers must have at least some postsecondary education, the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) is responsible for overseeing mortuary science and funeral directing education programs. The International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards (ICFSEB) oversees the tests that are administered to students wishing to become licensed practitioners, and a liaison works between the ABFSE and the ICFSEB to ensure continuity of criteria.

While the licensing of funeral directors is overseen by individual states in the United States, all people who desire to obtain a license must pass a national examination administered by the ICFSEB. Approximately half of all the United States and some Canadian provinces have a dual licensure program. In states and provinces that maintain two separate licenses, funeral direction and embalming are considered separate and distinct. Thus, there are different sets of requirements for obtaining each license. Almost all states and provinces, regardless of the licensure system, require some formal secondary education in order to be a licensed embalmer (often a 2-year associate degree). In places with dual licensures, funeral direction typically does not necessitate earning a college degree but an apprenticeship that, while varying in length, is generally one to two years.

Since 1970, the number of mortuary programs in the United States has increased from 21 programs to 56 accredited programs in 2005. There are currently 10 such programs in Canada, according to the Funeral Service Association of Canada. Slightly less than one-half of the U.S. schools make available some form of distance learning in their curricula. Most of these mortuary science programs are a part of 2-year, degree-granting institutions, but there are 4-year baccalaureate mortuary science programs in the United States. Some mortuary science programs offer additional certificates for those wanting to become pathology assistants and/or forensic investigators.

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