DEGREE: ASSOCIATE OF APPLIED SCIENCE
DIVISION: ALLIED HEALTH
The Funeral Service Education program prepares the student in all aspects of funeral service, including funeral service counseling and funeral home management. The Funeral Service Education degree program at Delgado Community College is accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education. 992 Mantua Pike, Suite 108, Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, 08097 Phone: (816) 233-3747. Web: www.abfse.org. National Board Examination pass rates, graduation rates, and employment rates for this and other ABFSE-accredited programs are available at www.abfse.org. To request a printed copy of this program’s rates, please contact the Division of Allied Health, City Park Campus, Building 4, Room 133B. This two-year program admits one class per year in the fall semester. Prospective students must contact the Allied Health Admissions Office to initiate the application procedure. The deadline for applications for admission is April 30. All students who qualify are admitted to the program. To qualify for admittance into the program, the student must meet the following criteria:
1. Possess a high school diploma or equivalent.
2. Score on the ACT, SAT, or Delgado College Placement test sufficient to place the student in college-level courses.
3. If previous college courses have been taken, the student’s cumulative grade point average must be at least 2.5.
4. Science courses over 5 years old may require repetition; contact the Allied Health admissions advisor for additional information.
Program Aims:
The Delgado Community College program in funeral service education has as its central aim recognition of the importance of funeral service personnel as:
1. Members of a human service profession;
2. Members of the community in which they serve;
3. Participants in the relationship between bereaved families and those engaged in the funeral service profession;
4. Professionals knowledgeable of and compliant with federal, state, provincial/territorial, and local regulatory guidelines in the geographic area where they practice as well as;
5. Professionals sensitive to the responsibility for public health, safety, and welfare in caring for human remains.
Program objectives:
1. To enlarge the background and knowledge of students about the funeral service profession;
2. To educate students in every phase of funeral service and help enable them to develop proficiency and skills necessary for the profession, as defined in the Preamble at the beginning of chapter nine of the manual on accreditation;
3. To educate students concerning the responsibilities of the funeral service profession to the community at large;
4. To emphasize high standards of ethical conduct;
5. To provide a curriculum at the post-secondary level of instruction;
6. To encourage student and faculty research in the field of funeral service.
The College offers a Certificate of Technical Studies program in Funeral Services. Learn more about this program.
Program Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the Funeral Service Education Associate of Applied Science program, the learner will be able to:
- Explain the importance of funeral service professionals in developing relationships with the families and communities they serve. (ABFSE #2.1.1) (SLO #1)
- Identify standards of ethical conduct in funeral service practice. (ABFSE #2.1.2) (SLO #2)
- Interpret how federal, state, and local laws apply to funeral service in order to ensure compliance. (ABFSE #2.1.3) (SLO #3)
- Apply principles of public health and safety in the handling and preparation of human remains. (ABFSE #2.1.4) (SLO #4)
- Demonstrate technical skills in embalming and restorative art that are necessary for the preparation and handling of human remains. (ABFSE #2.1.5) (SLO #5)
- Demonstrate skills required for conducting arrangement conferences, visitations, services, and ceremonies. (ABFSE #2.1.6) (SLO #6)
- Describe the requirements and procedures for burial, cremation, and other accepted forms of final disposition of human remains. (ABFSE #2.1.7) (SLO #7)
- Describe methods to address the grief-related needs of the bereaved. (ABFSE #2.1.8) (SLO #8)
- Explain management skills associated with operating a funeral establishment. (ABFSE #2.1.9) (SLO #9)
- Demonstrate verbal and written communication skills and research skills need for funeral service practice. (ABFSE #2.1.10) (SLO #10)
