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 2017-2018 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate’s Degree	1,324
Undergraduate Certificate	341
Bachelor’s Degree	188
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

When studying mortuary science, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a mortuary science student include the following:

• 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?

Below is a list of occupations associated with mortuary science:

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 188 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in funeral and mortuary science in 2018, making it rank #253 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 69% of recent graduates being 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	1
Black or African American	24
Hispanic or Latino	6
White	147
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

How Much Do Funeral & Mortuary Science Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2015-2017 with a bachelor’s degree in funeral and mortuary science made a median starting salary of $37,350 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $32,250 (25th percentile) and $41,325 (75th percentile).

One thing to note here is that not all of these people may be working in careers related to mortuary science.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $46,640 to $93,820 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to mortuary science. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to mortuary science have obtained the following education levels.

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 2017-2018, 75 schools offered a mortuary science program of some type. 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)	15	5
Certificate (1-2 years)	18	8
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	65	8
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	15	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	102,006
Culinary Arts	28,207
Other Personal & Culinary Services	694

References

• 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
• Image Credit: By Senior Airman Andrew Lee under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.