Custom-Made Christian Gap Year Programs

The Eleven:6 Christian Gap Year program partners with frontline ministries to Equip, Educate, and Empower next generation world changers to discover their God-designed path, gain faith-driven life skills, and launch into their next steps. Elevate your program with our dynamic college course delivery framework and plug into accredited college degree pathways.

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Christian Gap Year students love earning college credit.

Christian Gap Year Programs powered by Eleven:6

Empower your ministry with a powerful framework that elevates skill development and spiritual formation.

Christian Gap Year programs are exploding in response to the growing challenges — skyrocketing tuition, cultural pressures, and rapid shift in marketplace skill requirements — of diving right into a 4-year degree program. At Eleven:6, we understand your desire to prepare young believers to thrive in their calling, and we’re here to help you cultivate a new generation of exceptional leaders.

Our mission at Eleven:6 is to help you launch or elevate a customized Christian Gap Year program that addresses the challenges young people face as they navigate the transition from high school — or early college — to the next steps in life. We believe investing essential life and learning skills, with a solid working biblical foundation, accelerates and amplifies value across the student’s trajectory, whether it includes college, trade school, or a direct path to the workforce.

Whether your goal is to develop and retain young talent or to launch next generation leaders into their next steps in life, we are here to help accelerate and amplify that purpose.

3 Simple Steps to a University-Level Christian Gap Year Program

STEP 1

DESIGN

At Eleven:6, we step into your world to understand your ministry’s unique needs and goals. Our signature Accelerated Design Process allows us to get to know you, your team, and the God-sized goals you’ve been called to. Through collaborative discussions and a thoughtful review of your existing program (if relevant), we work together to create a tailored university-level residency program that amplifies your vision, values, and culture.

STEP 2

DEVELOP

With a clear vision in place, we move on to the development phase. We leverage our plug-and-play toolbox of resources, including cutting-edge software and access to accredited degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This enables us to develop an action plan that equips your Christian Gap Year students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experiences, to develop essential life skills and practical biblical foundations. We ensure that the program exceeds academic standards and provides valuable educational outcomes.

STEP 3

DEPLOY

Once the program is designed and developed, we help you quickly launch a proven, academically dynamic Christian Gap Year program with minimal investment. Our expertise and partnerships with accredited institutions allow us to offer incredible financial and eternal Return On Investment (ROI).

You gain a strategic team member — the entire Eleven:6 organization — that will dramatically minimize the mystery and the bandwidth load at every stage of the process. Why? So you can work in your gifting, your calling, and your capacity, developing and launching next generation Christian leaders for ministry and the marketplace. And you don’t have to become and expert, earn a PhD, or spend countless hours searching for best practices and resources.

Your Christian Gap Year students will experience a transformative journey that combines hands-on ministry involvement, mentorship, and access to academic resources, setting them up for success in their future education, professional, and family endeavors. With our expertise in designing and implementing Christian Gap Year programs, our focus on immersive training and mentorship, and our commitment to ongoing support, Eleven:6 empowers you to cultivate a new generation of skilled and passionate young people who will impact the world for God.

Let us help you launch or elevate your Christian Gap Year program with transferable courses and accredited degree pathways.

SCHEDULE A CALL

Your program, elevated.

Say goodbye to the frustration of competing with every other Christian Gap Year program — or even the regional university — for your next class of students. With Eleven:6, you can look forward to a future where the significant value and essential outcomes of your program is clear and consistent. Together, let’s create a legacy of powerful life skill development and spiritual formation that leaves a lasting mark on your students.

Don’t let the problem of delivering college-level training in a dynamic ministry environment — without stealing extra bandwidth — hold you back any longer. Contact us today to learn more about how Eleven:6 can help you overcome these challenges and build a strong foundation of integrated learning that uses and maximizes your unique program and ministry DNA to develop and launch young people into their calling.

Recruiting Boost + Elevated Outcomes = Leadership Pipeline

Schedule a Call How it Works

Boost Recruiting

Christian Gap Year programs with transferable college credit and degree pathways attract more — and more motivated — applicants.

Elevate Outcomes

Gap Year students enrolled in our academic programs outperform non-credit peers in focus, commitment, and learning (skills + formation) outcomes. Plus they save A LOT of future tuition cost and up to a year of time in college.

Leadership Pipeline

Your ministry DNA, multiplied in next generation leaders, which can fuel future short-term and full time staff with dynamic young talent you already know.

Testimonials

What do our Christian Gap Year Program partners and alumni have to say?

Jenna H. -- Christian GAP year student @ Arrowhead Camp

”For me, TLI meant tremendous growth – personally, academically, and spiritually. It was a constant learning experience… that resulted in a deeper understanding of who Christ is and who I am, in Him.

Jenna H. The Launch Initiative @ Arrowhead Camp (PA)

Ben Myers -- Christian GAP year director @ Arrowhead Camp

The Christian GAP year program here at Arrowhead, started as a vision to add a dynamic catalyst for our mission to Impact Lives & Make Disciples. Eleven:6 made it possible for us to take our unique ministry context that is perfect for spiritual formation, personal and professional development to the next level.

Ben MyersExecutive Director @ Arrowhead Camp (PA)

We partner with some of the best Christian Gap Year programs in the US:

The Launch Initiative at Arrowhead -- Christian Gap Year Program

Grace Adventures Ascent Christian Gap Year Program

Renew at Spruce Lake Retreat -- Christian Gap Year Program

Touch the World -- Christian Gap Year Program

The Way School of Discipleship - Christian Gap Year Program in NY

Accelerate Implementation & Amplify Results

Our process, in conjunction with our uniquely integrated learning model, positions your Christian Gap Year program to go beyond academic baselines and launch next generation ministry and marketplace disciple-makers with a higher level of tangible competency, capacity, and character. And it minimizes the bandwidth drain for your team in the creation, launch, and delivery of your program.

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Learn More About Christian Gap Year Programs

Want to learn more about launching, upgrading, managing, recruiting, etc…, for your Christian Gap Year Program? Hop over to our Resources page or browse recent articles below.

Front Lines Podcast -- Ben Myers -- Arrowhead Bible Camp

Leadership at the Speed of Obedience – Ben Myers – Arrowhead Camp (PA)

November 13, 2023

A conversation with Ben Myers, Director at Arrowhead Bible Camp. Topics include their Christian…

Gap year student Maddie McCaffrey is enrolled in The Launch Initiative (TLI) at Arrowhead Camp in PA.

Gap Year Student Experience — Maddie McCaffrey — Arrowhead Camp (PA)

November 6, 2023

A conversation with Maddie McCaffrey, who is student in The Launch Initiative (TLI) gap year…

Front Lines Podcast - Joel Becker - Arrowhead Camp

Christian Gap Year to Grad Degree – Joel Becker – Arrowhead Camp (PA)

October 29, 2023

A conversation with Joel Becker, who is currently serving as the Program Specialist, with a…

Choose the right gap year or internship program staff.

How to Choose the Best Staff for Gap Year, Internship, and Residency Programs

September 29, 2023

Gap year, internship, and residency programs each provide students with unique learning environments that require…

Christian gap year program students smiling.

Gap Year Programs: Why They Save Time & Money

July 27, 2023

Here are some of the common misconceptions that people have about gap year programs and…

Fill gaps to bridge challenges in your faith-based gap year program.

Does Your Faith-Based Gap Year Program Have Gaps? Here’s How to Know

June 12, 2023

Maybe your faith-based gap year program is in need of a complete overhaul. Maybe it’s…

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Christian Gap Year program?

A Christian gap year program is usually a one-year (9-12 months) educational experience designed to help young people moving from one stage in life to another — usually from high school to college or the workforce — discover their direction or life calling, develop essential life skills, and prepare for an effective launch into their next steps in life. These programs are usually hosted by Christian camps or mission organizations able to offer personal mentoring and robust experiences that challenge students to develop healthy and holistic learning and life skills with strong biblical foundations.

How long do Gap Year programs last?

Typically, gap year programs run 9 to 12 months. Think of them as a school year alternative. Some may run as little as 6 months and others more than a year.

What are the focus areas of Christian Gap Years?

There are generally two areas of focus, context and curriculum.

Context is the experiential aspect of the program. Whether a program is staged at at Christian camp or in a cross-cultural environment, there are rich opportunities to design powerful teaching and learning experiences for program students. Each context is unique and offers its own mix of opportunities.

Curriculum is the structured program design that injects content and coaching into the learning environment. Some programs feel a lot more like a traditional school approach, with lectures, homework, and discussions. Others feel very fluid and experiential. But almost all Christian gap year programs will focus in on developing strong Bible foundations, a functional biblical worldview, core life skills (decision-making, personal finance, critical thinking, people skills), and identifying personal life direction.

Who can take a gap year or enroll in a Christian Gap Year program?

That varies from program to program. But generally, Christian gap year programs will enroll students from 18 (right out of high school) to 22 (right out of college). Usually they are looking for students that are at life transition points, whether that’s prior to college, mid-college, or between college and graduate school, professional life, etc…

What are the common problems or issues faced by ministries when setting up Gap Year programs??

There are several common challenges we see when setting up — or rethinking — a Christian Gap Year program. Here are the big ones:

*Recruiting — From messaging to finding potential students to filtering applicants in their admissions process, filling a program with the ideal student (for that unique program) can make or break the experience for everyone involved.

*Curriculum Design — Most ministries that aspire to launch a gap year program are already great at doing ministry. Many are great at intentional discipleship within their existing programs. But the leap to a 9-month hosted onsite program benefits requires a different skillset. Seeing AND structuring intentional opportunities for formation takes some experience — or it can be very draining.

*Academic Delivery — The biggest off ramp of potential gap year students is “losing a year”. Having the opportunity to earn credit toward college is a huge bonus for recruiting. But designing academic delivery as a tool — not just a feature — that is tuned to elevate program outcomes AND plug into a wide array of next steps requires understanding both ends of the process. And very few ministries have that capacity in-house. So they settle for an expensive (time and money) bolt on alternative feature and forfeit opportunities to leverage what makes them a unique alternative for a student’s journey.

What should be my budget for a Gap Year program for my ministry?

Like any program you launch, that depends on some key strategic decisions and what latent resources you already have.

Your biggest expenses will be personnel, housing, food, and any baked in program elements like travel, learning resources, etc…, plus your investment in marketing the program. For instance, a Christian camp may create a hybrid role that pairs Summer program director responsibilities with the gap program director role. That same camp may use existing all-weather cabins during their offseason to house gap year students without incurring much more than additional utility costs.

On the revenue side, you can set program tuition based on your strategy… for income, for neutral cash flow, or recognizing a net negative that will be offset by giving students responsibilities that will save payroll elsewhere in the budget.

What will it cost for Eleven:6 to develop a custom Christian Gap Year program for our organization?

When we partner, we partner. We don’t charge a fee to walk with your organization through our Accelerated Design Process. It’s our investment in the missional success of your program. When students enroll with one of our partner universities, a portion of their (usually discounted) tuition flows to us for facilitating academic delivery. So we’ve aligned our outcomes to your success. And it doesn’t cost you anything.

We know you’re probably looking at a range of options right now, and we want to make this as easy as possible for you. Please reach out with any questions you have!

SCHEDULE A CALL ASK A QUESTION

Custom-Made Christian Gap Year Programs

Christian Gap Year Programs powered by Eleven:6

Empower your ministry with a powerful framework that elevates skill development and spiritual formation.

3 Simple Steps to a University-Level Christian Gap Year Program

STEP 1

DESIGN

STEP 2

DEVELOP

STEP 3

DEPLOY

Let us help you launch or elevate your Christian Gap Year program with transferable courses and accredited degree pathways.

Your program, elevated.

Recruiting Boost + Elevated Outcomes = Leadership Pipeline

Boost Recruiting

Elevate Outcomes

Leadership Pipeline

Testimonials

What do our Christian Gap Year Program partners and alumni have to say?

We partner with some of the best Christian Gap Year programs in the US:

Accelerate Implementation & Amplify Results

Learn More About Christian Gap Year Programs

Leadership at the Speed of Obedience – Ben Myers – Arrowhead Camp (PA)

Gap Year Student Experience — Maddie McCaffrey — Arrowhead Camp (PA)

Christian Gap Year to Grad Degree – Joel Becker – Arrowhead Camp (PA)

How to Choose the Best Staff for Gap Year, Internship, and Residency Programs

Gap Year Programs: Why They Save Time & Money

Does Your Faith-Based Gap Year Program Have Gaps? Here’s How to Know

Frequently Asked Questions

More Resources