Funeral Service and Mortuary Science at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's funeral service program starts graduates at just $33,688—putting them at the 5th percentile nationally among similar programs, where the typical graduate earns $49,316. While this is the only bachelor's-level funeral service program in Illinois (making the state comparison less meaningful), that $16,000 gap from the national median is substantial. The $31,000 in debt means graduates face nearly a full year's salary in loans, well above the national median for this field.

The picture improves significantly over time, with earnings jumping 40% to $47,058 by year four—nearly catching up to what peers at other schools earn right out of the gate. This delayed earning trajectory appears common in funeral service, where building clientele and advancing to management takes time. Still, this means years of financial strain that graduates from higher-earning programs may avoid.

For families considering this path: your child would graduate making roughly $1,500 less per month than the typical funeral service graduate elsewhere, though debt is only slightly above average. If they're committed to staying in Illinois and this specialized field, the program eventually delivers respectable mid-career earnings. However, if they're geographically flexible, programs at other institutions offer significantly stronger starting positions that could ease those critical first years of loan repayment.