American Board of Funeral Service Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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:

October 2023
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 October 18-19, 2023 meeting in Charlotte, NC:

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

    Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
    Reaccredited with no stipulations.

    COA recognized the strong faculty, an effective advisory board, assessment plan and practicum program, strong administrative support, and a comprehensive Distance Education program as important factors in the decision.

    East Mississippi Community College, Scooba, MS
    Reaccredited with three (3) stipulations to be addressed by February 15, 2024.

    • Provide a document retention policy for Funeral Service Technology specific student documents (i.e., case reports, etc.) that includes provisions for maintenance of the documents in cases of program staff changes. Standard 3.1.3.b.
    • Provide proof that the new curriculum described in the response has been implemented. Standard 5.4
    • Provide documentation that the course descriptions for all courses are uniform across all sources of information. Standard 3.1.2
       

    Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY
    Reaccredited with no stipulations.

    By March 1, 2024 a progress report is required as evidence of professional training for faculty using the learning management system,  Brightspace. (Appendix E: Standard 6)

Distance Education approved

    Cape Cod Community College, Bridgewater, MA

Distance Education denied

    Goodwin University, E. Hartford, CT
    Additional information is required for consideration during summer 2024 site visit.

Substantive Change approved

    Worsham College, Wheeling, IL - Associate of Science (AS) degree to replace existing Associate of Applied Science (AAS) and Diploma offerings.

    Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service, Decatur, GA - Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree to replace Associate of Science (AS) degree offering.

Distance Education substantive change application accepted

    Miami Dade College, Miami, FL
    virtual site visit required for approval

Distance Education substantive change application deferred

    Milwaukee Area Technical College, West Allis, WI
    additional information required

Accreditation decision deferred

    Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN
    Additional information is required for April 2024 consideration.

Removed from Probation: return to good standing

    Malcolm X College, Chicago, IL
    Probation concerns are satisfied and the program is granted reaccreditation for a seven (7) year period, effective October 2022, with two (2) stipulations.
     
    The stipulations to be addressed by February 15, 2024 are:
       1. Submit documentation that the current curriculum revision is completed. 
       2. Provide an updated assessment plan.

Probation

    Mid-America College of Funeral Service, Jeffersonville, IN
    The institution and accredited programs are on Probation status for one year 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 students policies are provided before starting coursework.
    Standard 10 - Demonstrate that data collection and analysis is used for continuous program improvement.

    Cypress College
    , Cypress, CA
    Probation is the result of non-compliance with Standard 10.5.2 - graduation rates below 60%. Current accreditation is continued for one (1) year. The probation response must address the reason(s) for sub-standard graduation rates and how proposed improvements will lead to satisfactory results.
     
    Nassau Community College
    , Garden City, NY
    The Mortuary Science program is on Probation status for one year effective April 20, 2023. Probation status required the issues to be addressed in two stages - the first response due September 1, 2023 and the completed response by March 1, 2024.
    COA accepted the initial response. The second phase of the program's Probation response is to include completed copies of report templates.

Administrative Probation

    Columbus Technical College, Columbus, GA
    Failure to submit the required improvement plan for NBE examination pass rates at less than 60%.

Other actions taken by the Committee on Accreditation in October 2023 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 April 9-10, 2024 in Boston, MA.

Re-accreditation

    Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
    Fayetteville Technical Community College
    , Fayetteville, NC
    Northwest Tennessee Community College
    , Southaven, MS
    Community College of Baltimore County - Catonsville
    , Catonsville, MD
    _____(postponed for 1 year)

Distance Education

    SUNY - Canton, Canton, NY

The above schedule is subject to change.

____________________________

Public comment regarding the above may be submitted to the ABFSE office prior to March 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)

April 2023
October 2022
June 2022

April  2022

October 2021
August 2021
June 2021
April 2021
 

October 2020
April 2020
October 2019

April 2019
October 2018

April 2018
October 2017

April 2017
 

October 2016
April 2016

October 2015
April 2015
October 2014
April 2014
October 2013

 

     

 

 

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