For more than 85 years, Wayne State has strengthened Michigan’s funeral service workforce

A Wayne State mortuary science student works on a clay sculpture of her sister during Professor Rebecca Peters' Restorative Art class in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

DETROIT - Becoming a funeral director requires more than learning the science behind preparing the deceased. It also takes compassion, confidence and the ability to guide families through some of life's most difficult moments.

Caroline Orban, a second-year part-time student in Wayne State University's mortuary science program in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, is developing those skills through classroom instruction, hands-on laboratories and practical experience. A graduate of Hamilton High School in west Michigan, Orban said the opportunity to apply what she learns in a supervised setting has been especially important to her preparation.

Caroline Orban, a second-year part-time student in Wayne State University's Mortuary Science program, works on a clay head sculpture during Professor Rebecca Peters' Restorative Art class as a classmate looks on. The hands-on exercise helps students develop skills used in funeral service.

"You can read something a hundred times, you can go through a bunch of slides and learn everything there is to know about embalming," Orban said. "But at the end of the day, you need to be able to do the embalming to really understand and be able to apply those things."

That hands-on education is part of Wayne State's effort to prepare the next generation of funeral directors for an industry facing workforce challenges across Michigan. Since 1939, Wayne State has been the only university in the state to offer a degree in mortuary science, making the program a critical source of new talent for funeral homes throughout Michigan.

According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Michigan has 1,889 licensed funeral directors working across 666 funeral homes. As experienced directors retire and the Baby Boom generation ages, the industry anticipates a growing need for qualified funeral directors.

"In Michigan and nationwide, there's a labor shortage in funeral service," said Mark Evely, chair of Wayne State's Department of Applied Health Sciences and director of the mortuary science program.

Evely expects that need to become more pronounced as Baby Boomers age and deaths increase over the next decade, creating additional demand for funeral directors and the services they provide.

Although funeral directors and related occupations do not appear on the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics' 2026 Hot 50 Job Outlook list, Evely said funeral homes continue to face challenges recruiting qualified professionals and replacing retirees.

Wayne State's program graduates 40 to 50 students annually and offers full- and part-time options, as well as in-person and online learning. The flexible formats provide opportunities for students who are already working in the profession or who live outside the Detroit area.

Enrollment has grown to approximately 110 students, compared with about 40 roughly a decade ago, Evely said.

Students work on clay head sculptures during a Restorative Art class in Wayne State University's mortuary science program at the Mortuary Science Building on Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

Wayne State awards a bachelor's in mortuary science, which meets the educational requirement for funeral service licensure in Michigan and every other state. While most graduates pursue careers as funeral directors, the program also prepares students for opportunities in medical examiner offices, organ procurement organizations, and companies that supply products and services to the funeral industry, including embalming chemical manufacturers.

Evely, who graduated from Wayne State's program in 2004, understands the profession from both sides of the classroom. In addition to leading the academic program, he continues to work as a funeral director in metro Detroit.

He said Wayne State's close connection to the profession helps ensure that students learn what funeral homes need from new employees. The program also works with funeral service practitioners throughout Michigan, including through an advisory board that provides feedback on its curriculum. Students gain practical experience at licensed funeral homes, where they can apply their training in professional settings.

"I would say it's rare to find a funeral home in Michigan that doesn't employ at least one Wayne State graduate," Evely said. "All of our graduates who seek funeral service employment in Michigan are getting jobs."

Evely estimates that approximately 80% of graduates remain in Michigan, although the university has limited ability to track every graduate's employment after graduation. He said starting salaries for funeral directors typically range from $55,000 to $60,000 annually at smaller funeral homes, with larger firms generally offering higher pay.

Dominick Astorino, an adjunct professor in the mortuary science program, examines a display of clay head sculptures created by students in the Restorative Art class at the Mortuary Science Building in Detroit.

For Orban, who works part-time at Harry J. Will Funeral Homes in Livonia, the combination of classroom learning, laboratory experience and work in a funeral home has already made a difference.

"Between practicum, the labs, and then just working and applying what I've been learning, I already feel much more confident than when I started at the beginning of the year," Orban said during Rebecca Peters' Restorative Art class. As she spoke, Orban and her classmates sculpted clay heads using photographs of people they knew as models. Orban was creating a sculpture of her boyfriend.

Orban first became interested in the profession after job shadowing at a family-owned funeral home in Allegan, Michigan. Watching how funeral directors worked with families and approached their responsibilities convinced her that mortuary science was the right career path.

For students considering mortuary science, Orban encourages them to learn about the profession firsthand before deciding whether it is the right career path.

"Getting your own perspective and either interning or working will give you the biggest picture of whether or not this is for you, and whether this is something you're passionate about," she said.

For Orban, that firsthand experience helped confirm her career choice.

Now, through her Wayne State education and training, she is preparing to join an industry that will continue to need skilled, compassionate funeral directors to serve Michigan families.