AAS in Funeral Service

The Funeral Service Education degree program at Northampton Community College is accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE). The program is designed to give students a broad understanding of the funeral home operation, funeral directing, public health, and embalming for their internships and careers in the field. It typically takes students six semesters to complete this associate degree. This degree can be completed at our Bethlehem location.

Funeral Service operates as a business, but also requires professionals in the field to exhibit sensitivity and compassion in dealing with bereaved families. Funeral home employees must be open-minded about the ways in which people of different faiths and cultures express their feelings and practice their beliefs. Acceptance into the program is competitive, and applicants must have completed the minimum admission requirements of high school biology and chemistry labs with a C or with an overall high school GPA of 2.5 or better.

State licensing

If you are a Northampton Community College student living outside of Pennsylvania or intending to complete an internship or clinical placement outside of the state in an NCC program leading to professional licensure, you should review the requirements on the state board website to make sure that the program qualifies.

Licensure requirements vary from state to state and you may require additional authorization from the professional licensing agency in that state. Participating in a program from outside of Pennsylvania, if not properly authorized by that state's professional licensing board, could result in loss of licensing eligibility. If you need help or have questions, please contact the Program Director for more information.

Students not only develop a comprehensive understanding of the preparation of a body and ceremony according to the wishes of the survivors, but also learn to prepare financial accounts, file death certificates, and legal documents, and direct individuals into post-death counseling or support group activities. Our funeral service program strives to educate students on every aspect of mortuary science. Northampton Community College students in the Funeral Service Education program take a variety of classes in subjects such as accounting, philosophy, chemistry, and more. These classes include Chemistry of Life, Accounting I, and On Death and Dying. In the last couple of semesters, students take Funeral Directing, Embalming Theory, and the U.S. and PA Funeral Law to prepare them for a 12-month internship.

Summer Sessions

• COLS101College Success
• ENGL101English I
• MATHMathematics Elective (QL)
• PSYC103Introduction to Psychology
• Elective

First Semester (Fall)

• BIOS160Human Biology
• CISC101Introduction to Information Technology
• CMTH102Introduction to Communication
• ENGL151LEnglish II
• BUSABusiness Elective

Second Semester (Spring)

• ACCT101 Financial Accounting I
  or
  ACCT100Accounting for Non-Accountants
• BIOS202Microbiology for Allied Health
• BUSA152Business Law I
• PHIL111GOn Death and Dying
• PSYC221Responding to the Bereaved
• SOCA103Principles of Sociology

Summer Sessions

• CHEM135Chemistry of Life
• BUSA221GBusiness Communications
• General Education Elective (SIT)
• Elective

Third Semester (Fall)

• FUNS101Principles of Funeral Service
• FUNS102Introduction to Funeral Service
• FUNS201Funeral Home Operations I
• FUNS203Pathology for Funeral Service
• FUNS210Embalming Theory I
• FUNS241 Funeral Services Field Study I
  or
  FUNS212Funeral Service Clinical I

Fourth Semester (Spring)

• FUNS105Funeral Directing
• FUNS220Embalming Theory II
• FUNS231Funeral Home Operations II
• FUNS242 Funeral Services Field Study II
  or
  FUNS222Funeral Service Clinical II
• FUNS251United States and Pennsylvania Funeral Law
• FUNS255Cosmetology & Restorative Art
• FUNS280Funeral Service Education Comprehensive Review

BIOS160, CISC101, ACCT101, BIOS202, BUSA152, PSYC221, CHEM135, BUSA221G: Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in these courses to begin FUNS Courses

• For their Social Science: Societies and Institutions over Time (SIT) Elective, students must select a course from the list of approved courses in that category.
• One General Education course must be taken in a Writing Intensive (WI) section. In addition, writing-intensive work is included in various courses in this program; thus completing the program automatically satisfies the program-related Writing Intensive (WI) requirement.
• Computer competencies are included in various courses in this program as well as in CISC101. Thus, completing the program automatically satisfies the computing requirement.
• For their Mathematics (QL) Elective, students must select a course from the list of approved courses in that category.
• Students must earn a grade of "C" or better in all FUNS courses to progress in the program.

Upon Completion of an accredited program, students will be able to:

• 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.

Graduates with an associate degree in Funeral Service Education are qualified to take positions as resident interns, funeral directors, morticians, and embalmers. The scope of the work takes place mostly in funeral homes and crematories, with on-call hours including nights and weekends. Funeral directors arrange the details and logistics of a funeral or services to honor the deceased. They also handle the paperwork involved with a person's death.

Future Career Paths

• Funeral Director
• Pre-Need Funeral Counselor
• Embalmer