LWIT Funeral Services Program Receives Full Accreditation

’s (LWIT) Funeral Services Education Program—the only accredited one in Washington—has received full accreditation after graduating its first class.

The program received initial accreditation when it began its funeral services program in 2009. After that first class graduated in March of 2011, the American Board of Funeral Service Education could perform a review, and earlier this month it granted the program full accreditation.

All of those graduates have found work in the funeral services industry, which typically pays $40,000-$50,000 to start, said Jen Boyer LWIT spokeswoman.

“We worked hard for this distinction and are very excited, not only to be accredited, but also for the feedback we received from the accreditors who visited our school,” Erin Wilcox, director of the program, said in an LWIT press release. “They commented that our facilities were arguably the best in the country. In fact, many other schools don’t have labs on campus where our program is fully in-house.”

LWIT’s Funeral Services Program is one of only 60 with accreditation in the United States.

“A great deal goes into this education, from learning the physical skills of embalming and business management, to an understanding of the psychology of grief and customer service with compassion,” Wilcox said. “This program attracts people with business and planning sense who have a strong calling to help families during a very difficult time. It is a very rewarding career.”

LWIT’s facilities include a full three-table embalming lab, a nine-body cooler with an additional two-body cooler in the receiving area, and a display room complete with caskets, vaults, headstones and other funeral items. Graduates of its intensive seven-quarter program receive an associate of applied science degree and must pass national and state board exams to graduate.

The program uses human bodies through its Gifted Body program, in which families with limited financial resources or those wishing to contribute to education donate the body of a loved one. Transportation and cremation services are provided at no charge to the family. For more information, call 425-739-8385.

—From an LWIT news release.