FUNERAL.AAS - Funeral Service

The goals and objectives of the MCCC Funeral Service programs are: to provide students with professional training in preparation for licensure in Funeral Service; to prepare students to embark upon a career in a service-oriented, care-giving profession; to provide an academic environment which encourages student research and successfully integrates the theoretical, practical, and technical aspects of funeral service; and to foster the concept of education as a life-long process necessary to meet the demands of an evolving workplace with current emphasis on emerging ethical, environmental, and social issues.

Academic emphasis includes the areas of business management; public health; the social, behavioral, and natural sciences; as well as the legal, technical, and regulatory aspects of funeral service.

Students have two options for completion of their professional education: Funeral Service Certificate and Funeral Service Associate in Applied Science degree. Both programs can be completed either full- or part-time.

Following consultation with the Program Director, the A.A.S. degree program may be selected as a graduation option (not an admissions option) in order to ensure that candidates have the requirements for licensure in their selected state.

Students are responsible for securing part-time employment in an approved New Jersey or eastern Pennsylvania funeral home in order to complete the field experience and practicum courses. This requires the student to be registered as an Intern with the New Jersey State Board of Mortuary Science or as a Funeral/Student Trainee with the Pennsylvania Board of Funeral Directors.

Upon completion of all coursework, graduates will be eligible to take the National Board Exam (NBE). Following the NBE, graduates will be cleared to take state licensing examinations.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

• Explain the importance of funeral service professionals in developing relationships with the families and communities they serve;

• Identify standards of ethical conduct in funeral service practice;

• Interpret how federal, state, and local laws apply to funeral service in order to ensure compliance;

• Apply principles of public health and safety in the handling and preparation of human remains;

• Demonstrate technical skills in embalming and restorative art that are necessary for the preparation and handling of human remains;

• Demonstrate skills required for conducting arrangement conferences, visitations, services, and ceremonies;

• Describe the requirements and procedures for burial, cremation, and other accepted forms of final disposition of human remains;

• Describe methods to address the grief-related needs of the bereaved;

• Explain management skills associated with operating a funeral establishment;

• Demonstrate verbal and written communication skills and research skills needed for funeral service practice.

The annual passage rate of first-time takers on the National Board Examination (NBE) for the most recent three-year period for this institution and all ABFSE accredited funeral service education programs is posted on the ABFSE website ( www.abfse.org).

The Funeral Service associate degree and certificate at Mercer County Community College is accredited by the
American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE)
992 Mantua Pike, Suite 108
Woodbury Heights, NJ 08097
816-233-3747 / exdir@abfse.org / www.abfse.org