Funeral & Mortuary Science

Types of Degrees Funeral & Mortuary Science Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many funeral and mortuary science graduations there were in 2018-2019 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate’s Degree	1,286
Undergraduate Certificate	311
Bachelor’s Degree	196
Basic Certificate	172

What Funeral & Mortuary Science Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to mortuary science were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Mortuary Science Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in mortuary science should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills for Mortuary Science Majors

A major in mortuary science prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Abilities for Mortuary Science Majors

A major in mortuary science will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Funeral & Mortuary Science Major?

People with a mortuary science degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Funeral Service Managers	7.0%	$79,180
Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Directors	3.8%	$52,650

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Funeral & Mortuary Science?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 196 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in funeral and mortuary science in 2019, making it rank #251 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 65% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of mortuary science majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	5
Black or African American	19
Hispanic or Latino	11
White	151
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	8

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Mortuary Science. About 1.0% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Jamaica
• Venezuela
• Japan

How Much Do Funeral & Mortuary Science Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

According to 2017-2018 data from the U.S. Department of Education, students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mortuary science have a median salary of $37,350 during the early years of their career. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $32,250 (25th percentile) and $41,325 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a mortuary science degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Mortuary Science majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $46,640 to $93,820 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Funeral & Mortuary Science

Some careers associated with mortuary science require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for mortuary science careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	3.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	9.4%
Some College Courses	2.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	64.0%
Bachelor’s Degree	13.5%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	4.5%

Online Funeral & Mortuary Science Programs

In the 2018-2019 academic year, 77 schools offered some type of funeral and mortuary science program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	16	5
Certificate (1-2 years)	19	7
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	68	10
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	16	5
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Funeral & Mortuary Science Worth It?

The median salary for a mortuary science grad is $57,620 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 44% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $354,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Funeral & Mortuary Science

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to mortuary science.

Major	Number of Grads
Cosmetology	103,674
Culinary Arts	26,675
Other Personal & Culinary Services	320

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.