Funeral director licensing in Pennsylvania

What it takes, step by step

1. Be a US citizen, at least 21, with a high school diploma or equivalent, and of good moral character.

   Sources for step 1

   • 63 P.S. §479.3
   • 49 Pa. Code §13.11

2. Complete 2 years of college (60 semester hours of general, liberal-arts credit), then register as a student trainee and complete a 1-year ABFSE-approved mortuary science course. Or enrol in an ABFSE-accredited integrated mortuary arts and sciences program.

   Sources for step 2

   • 63 P.S. §479.3
   • 49 Pa. Code §13.23
   • 49 Pa. Code §13.24
   • 63 P.S. §479.4(a)

3. After school, serve as a resident intern for 12 full continuous months, at least 40 hours a week, under a registered preceptor.

   Sources for step 3

   • 63 P.S. §479.3
   • 49 Pa. Code §13.51

4. During the internship (supervised work in a funeral home; some states use this word for the apprenticeship), embalm: the law requires you to completely embalm at least 25 bodies, and the Board requires 35 case histories, each showing the body was arterially embalmed. You must also be present at 35 complete funerals, from first call to burial and follow-up.

   Sources for step 4

   • 63 P.S. §479.3
   • 49 Pa. Code §§13.52, 13.63
   • 49 Pa. Code §13.53

5. Pass the National Board Exam (the NBE, the national licensing exam set by The Conference (the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards), in two sections, Arts and Sciences; The Conference, National Board Exam) (from The Conference) and Pennsylvania's written and oral exams on funeral practice and the law. You may sit them before the internship ends, but no license is issued until it is done.

   Sources for step 5

   • 49 Pa. Code §13.71
   • 49 Pa. Code §13.72

6. Complete 3 hours of training in child abuse recognition and reporting.

   Sources for step 6

   • 49 Pa. Code §13.11

Does a funeral home need an embalmer?

In effect, yes. A funeral establishment is a place where a licensed funeral director practises. Pennsylvania has one license, and its initial route requires completely embalming at least 25 bodies as a resident intern (the Board asks for 35 arterially embalmed case histories). Every establishment must also have at least one room for embalming.

Licensed in another state?

The Board may license someone from another state if that state's standards are at least as high as Pennsylvania's, it gives Pennsylvania licensees the same privileges, you hold a valid license from your state of residence, and you meet the Board's terms. Separately, a limited license lets a funeral director from a state with a reciprocity agreement remove, transport and bury bodies and direct funerals in Pennsylvania, but not keep an establishment or advertise there.

Good to know

• Someone licensed in a state with a funeral-director-only license may struggle to meet Pennsylvania's "at least as high" test for a full license. This is a reading of the statute, not a Board ruling.

  Sources

  • 63 P.S. §479.9(b)-(c)

Check with the board

Rules change. Confirm the current licensing requirements with the board before you enroll.

Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors (Department of State, Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs)

Many Muslims would rather not embalm. Whether a Muslim may embalm someone who is not Muslim is a question for a qualified scholar. This page only shows what Pennsylvania’s law requires.

Next

• How to become a Muslim funeral director
• Open jobs at funeral services serving Muslim communities
• Muslim funeral services in Pennsylvania
• Every state, at a glance