Accreditation Decisions
 

COA meets two times each year (April and October) and utilizes special meetings, if necessary.

Current decisions of COA are reported on this webpage and decisions since October 2013, may be reviewed under the tab - Past COA Decisions. Effective in 2019, accreditation decision information is included in the ABFSE Directory of Accredited Programs.

Committee on Accreditation (COA) Actions:

April 2024
The Committee on Accreditation of the American Board of Funeral Service Education took the following actions regarding these funeral service/mortuary science education programs at the April 9-10, 2024 meeting in Boston, MA:

Re-accreditation for a period of seven (7) years

Northwest Mississippi Community College, Southaven, MS
COA attributed the successful results to the dedicated faculty of the Funeral Service Technology Program and support from the administration.

Follow-up is required by March 1, 2025: 
1. Provide an updated and populated 2024 assessment plan.
2. Provide a copy of updated graduate and employer surveys (Standard 10.1) including a summary of survey results.
 

Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
Reaccredited with no stipulations.

COA recognized that the self study process was utilized to thoroughly evaluate the program and implement positive change. COA cited strong program leadership, support provided by the clinical assistant, development and use of surveys to improve program delivery, and a Student Handbook that included program outcomes

Re-accreditation for a period of three (3) years

Fayetteville Technical Community College, Fayetteville, NC
Reaccredited with no stipulations.

Distance Education approved

Cape Cod Community College, Bridgewater, MA

Distance Education substantive change application accepted

Milwaukee Area Technical College, West Allis, WI
Virtual site visit required for approval.

Miami Dade College, Miami, FL
Review of virtual site visit details is required for approval.

Distance Education application denied

SUNY - Canton, Canton, NY
Additional information is required for consideration.

Probation:

Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN
Following a deferred accreditation decision in October 2023, the program is placed on Probation for one (1) year. The probation response must address the following:

•  Provide evidence of a comprehensive, ongoing system of planning and assessment that ensures instructional quality and documents student outcomes. (Standard 10.1.2)
•  Results of annual graduate and employer surveys are to be evaluated in the assessment plan. (Standard 10.1.2.e)
•  The assessment plan must demonstrate how assessment efforts are used for program improvement. (Standard 10.1.2.g)
•  Differences between traditional delivery and distance education should be evaluated including the results of the on-campus restorative arts experience. (Standard 5.4.7)

Response to the Probation status must be provided by March 1, 2025 in order to be evaluated by the COA at the April 2025 meeting.
Current accreditation status continues.

Cypress College, Cypress, CA
Probation status continued for one (1) year while plans to improve low graduation rates are implemented. (Standard 10.5.2) - graduation rates below 60%. Current accreditation status continues.

Mid-America College of Funeral Service, Jeffersonville, IN
The institution and accredited programs are on Probation status for one year (effective October 2023) during which issues regarding accreditation standards 1,3,5,6,9,10 are to be addressed.

Standard 1 - Provide evidence of a current and viable Advisory Board.
Standard 3 - Published materials must accurately reflect the states where the AAS and BSFS degrees meet licensure requirements.
_____- Demonstrate compliant transcript language for non-accredited programs.
_____-Provide evidence that students are aware that courses may change from on-ground to distance delivery.
Standard 5 - Update syllabi to accurately portray the college catalog and ABFSE B-6 curriculum distribution.
_____-Provide inspection documentation for off-campus instructional sites.
_____-Provide evidence of embalming competency certification by qualified faculty members and completion of funeral directing tasks.
_____-Provide evidence of assessment data and analysis demonstrating equivalent academic rigor for online and face-to-face courses.
_____-Submit an organized curriculum plan for the Bachelor degree offerings.
Standard 6 - Provide evidence of student-teacher ratios compliant with the standard.
Standard 9 -  Demonstrate that pertinent student policies are provided before starting coursework.
Standard 10 - Demonstrate that data collection and analysis is used for continuous program improvement.

Administrative Probation

Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville, MD
Failure to schedule timely site visit. (Visit postponed for 1 year)

Columbus Technical College, Columbus, GA
Conditions for Administrative Probation satisfied. Returned to good standing.

’Show Cause’ why accreditation should not be removed

Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY
The Mortuary Science program accreditation status is moved from 'Probation' to 'Show Cause why accreditation should not be removed'.

The Response to unresolved Probation issues will be reviewed for an April 2025 decision. Program accreditation remains in effect until that time.

Candidacy

Cañada College, Redwood City, CA.
Candidacy application was rejected.

The college has one (1) year to address unresolved issues. Application must be received by March 1, 2025 for consideration in April 2025. After that date, a Candidacy renewal fee applies.

Other actions taken by the Committee on Accreditation in April 2024 did not affect the accredited status of the programs involved.

The following institutions/programs will be considered for scheduled re-accreditation and related action via a formal review by the Committee on Accreditation at the next scheduled meeting October 18-19, 2024 in New Orleans, LA.

Re-accreditation

Cape Cod Community College, Bridgewater, MA
Southwest Tennessee Community College, Memphis, TN
San Antonio College, San Antonio, TX
Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service, Houston, TX
Goodwin University, E. Hartford, CT
Columbus Technical College, Columbus, GA
Dallas Institute of Funeral Service, Dallas, TX

Distance Education approval

Miami Dade College, Miami, FL

The above schedule is subject to change.

____________________________

Public comment regarding the above may be submitted to the ABFSE office prior to September 1, 2024.

Robert C. Smith III
Executive Director
992 Mantua Pike, Suite 108
Woodbury Heights, NJ  08097
Office: (816) 233-3747
Email: exdir@abfse.org

Download the above information

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Past COA Decisions
(all documents below are presented in PDF format)