How would one identify a good mortuary school?

February 11, 2008 4:18 PM

Please help me understand the characteristics for which I should be looking in a mortuary school, and the viability of my finding work in the field.

I am interested in going to mortuary school. Particularly, I'm quite interested in the up-and-coming green burial movement.

What should I be looking for in a good mortuary school? Can you recommend any of the best names? I'm in the Philadelphia area just now, but I'm willing to move.

I understand that the funeral industry is primarily family based, but that most members of my generation are not interested in joining the family business. How likely am I to find work in the field given these two facts? What qualities and credentials are owners of funeral homes looking for in assistants and partners?

Finally, if you happen to have any information regarding the sort of work that may or may not currently be available specifically in the green burial segment of the market, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thank you so much for your help.

posted by earlofgrey to work & money (5 comments total)

Hi E of G,

I am currently the library director for the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, the oldest school of it's kind in the USA. I'll try not to be biased in giving you some advice and trying to answer some of your questions. :)

The green-burial movement is hot right now, and not widely practiced in the United States (although it's really taken off in Europe). That would be an excellent niche to focus on for future business development. As much as current funeral service professionals would like to ignore it, generation x and those beyond it are starting to grow weary of traditional funeral options...more and more you're going to see traditional funerals be replaced with "celebrations" (using a wide range of media), cremations and, if they are available, green burials.

It's true that there are a lot of family owned and operated funeral homes across the state, but there is now a rise in corporate owned funeral service companies (liveries, pre-need providers, embalming facilities etc.). Quite a few of our graduates come through the program without being part of "the family business" and many go on to a successful career either working for one or going the corporate/medical route. Most family owners are looking for individuals who will "fit in" with their small group....someone who will be available 24 hours a day during their scheduled work times to do removals/retrievals etc. Many funeral home owners in our area frown on young professionals that have visible tattoos, piercings or wild hair styles (I don't agree with them at all...just stating the facts of this area).
Corporate environments are a bit looser on time constraints, but still strict on appearance.

I see you're in Philadelphia. There is a college in Pittsburgh known as PIMS (Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science)...they are a good school and offer online courses as well as traditional lecture classes. Our college has advantages and disadvantages like any other, and I would be happy to fill you in or send you info if you're interested. Just email me.
The one thing I will recommend though is that you're better off choosing a stand alone mortuary college as opposed to a mortuary program that is part of a larger university/community college. Stand alones offer many more technical, medical and specialized facilities for their students than community college programs do.

Sorry for the lengthy missive, but it's something I do on a daily basis. :) Hope some of the info helped! Best of luck in your future academic pursuits.
posted by MeetCleaverTheatre at 4:46 PM on February 11, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

I am interested in going to mortuary school. Particularly, I'm quite interested in the up-and-coming green burial movement.

These two ideas are somewhat contradictory. The green burial movement stresses burials without the assistance of funeral professionals. They are generally done without embalming (which is a process taught in mortuary school) and without traditional caskets (which is one of the areas where traditional funeral homes make a good bit of their profit.)

My brother attended Commonwealth Institute in Houston, where he got a two year degree in mortuary sciences. (Though he did have to do another semester to be elegible to embalm in Louisiana. State regulations vary wildly. Good rule of thumb--study where you want to live). My dad and uncle graduated from Gupton-Jones in Dallas (which looks like it may no longer exist).

I understand that the funeral industry is primarily family based, but that most members of my generation are not interested in joining the family business. How likely am I to find work in the field given these two facts? What qualities and credentials are owners of funeral homes looking for in assistants and partners?

While a good bit of the funeral business is still family-based, there are also many corporations which hire funeral professionals. Those tend to be larger organizations which are run more like a business. You'd be somewhat unlikely to find "green" proponents in these organizations.

Of the seven professional funeral directors in my family, only three are embalmers. the other four (of which I am one), studied and apprenticed under the others for two years to get our funeral directors license for the state of Louisiana. There is a lot of paperwork involved and a test at the end of your training, but it's not especially difficult. However, you do have to be working for a credible firm and studying under a licensed funeral director.

If you are primarily interested in the "green" movement, I'd suggest you study grief counseling and apply to work at a firm that is "green-friendly." Understand, though, that (and I'm going to say this the nicest way I can), there's not a lot of money in green burials, so it may be difficult to make a career out of it...at least at the start. This is not meant to be discouraging--in fact, if you have any other specific questions, feel free to email me. Serving those at their time of most desperate need is a noble calling, and I wish you luck with it.
posted by ColdChef at 4:56 PM on February 11, 2008

I knew a mortician in the Navy and they consistently offered him larger and larger bonuses to resign, seems they always had a shortage of qualified personnel.

Not that that helps for green burials.
posted by Max Power at 5:10 PM on February 11, 2008

ColdChef, I understand they're contradictory now, but do you think they always will be?

A lot of stuff that was "alternative" 20 or 30 years ago has become much more mainstream just by virtue of exposure, and is now marketed in mainstream products. I'm pretty sure anyone using cloth nappies 15 years ago was a hippy dippy freak, but now I don't think any isn't aware that they're making a choice, even if they go straight for the Pampers or choose environmentally friendly disposables.

I would have thought that elements from green funerals would become more mainstream and incorporated into traditional funeral home services and products over the next, say, 10 years? I had sort of figured that by the time I kicked it, whoever was left behind would be able to walk down to my local funeral home and buy me a funeral that wouldn't make me, err, spin in my proverbial grave. I assumed this would be a growing market.

So, to bring this back on track, is it not possible that E of G could go to mortuary school and specially focus on green elements he might expect to be able to bring on board in the normal course of business in the next few years?
posted by DarlingBri at 7:02 PM on February 11, 2008

As I mentioned earlier, the focus of green funerals (mostly) is burials without the assistance of funeral homes. Going to mortuary school in order to conduct green funerals would be akin to going to a culinary academy so that you could teach others how to cook for themselves--which is not a bad idea until you weigh in the cost of school.

Again, I'm not trying to dissuade you. Just presenting the facts as I see them. I hear a lot of talk about "green funerals", but my family has been in the business for sixty years and we've never once been asked to conduct one.

I am a funeral director, not a casket salesman, and I'll do whatever our families ask of us. As "green funerals" become more mainstream, I'm sure we'll have to change our business model. And I'm certain the change will come within my lifetime. Ten years would be unrealistic, though.
posted by ColdChef at 11:18 AM on February 12, 2008