Funeral Service Education

The funeral service department has been an integral part of the Fayetteville Technical Community College campus since 1974. Students may graduate from the Funeral Directing diploma program or the Funeral Service associate degree program. Funeral directing does not include embalming while funeral service combines funeral directing and embalming.

The funeral service profession consists of caregivers that recognize that they are members of a human services profession as well as contributing and accountable stewards and protectors of the public health and sentiments of the communities where they reside.  Funeral professionals are vested with the responsibility of complying with all state, federal, and local regulations that affect their profession.  Recognizing the brief nature of human life and the unique and precious relationship that families have with their loved ones, funeral professionals are sensitive to death and end-of-life issues and are empathetic to the needs and desires of the surviving family members.  Funeral directors assist funeral consumers to design a service that is meaningful to represent the life of the deceased and to provide the bereaved with a means of participation and grief resolution.

The specific aims and purposes of the Department of Funeral Service Education are:

• To give students the knowledge, principles, techniques and skills which are the basis of the funeral service profession.
• To provide for education and professional advancement of student whether they choose to follow the funeral service profession or whether they decide to use their specialized education in other general or technical fields.
• To educate and prepare individuals to contribute to the service and welfare of the community.
• To become a major provider of continuing education programs meeting mandatory re-licensure requirements for the licensed funeral service personnel in the state, and to encourage research in the field of funeral service.

The NC Board of Funeral Service may refuse to issue or renew a license to an individual with a conviction of a felony or a crime involving fraud or moral turpitude.

After January 1, 2004, each accredited program of funeral service education must require that each funeral service education student take the National Board Examination (NBE) as a requirement for graduation.

The Funeral Service program is accredited and/or approved by:

The American Board of Funeral Service Education

3414 Ashland Avenue

Suite G

St. Joseph, Missouri 64506

816-233-3747

www.abfse.org

The North Carolina State Board of Funeral Service

1033 Wade Avenue

Suite 108

Raleigh, North Carolina 27605

919-733-9380

www.ncbfs.org

Fayetteville Technical Community College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees, diplomas and certificates.

Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call

404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Fayetteville Technical Community College.

The Commission is to be contacted only if there is evidence that appears to support an institution’s

significant non-compliance with a requirement or standard.