A Discipleship Training School, almost always shortened to DTS, is Youth With A Mission’s foundational program. It pairs a season of teaching with a season of hands on mission work overseas, and it is the prerequisite for everything else in YWAM.
At YWAM Lancaster we run two versions of it. Below are the questions people actually ask us before they apply, answered with the real numbers rather than the brochure version.
Quick answers
| Classic DTS | Ekballō DTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Total length | 5 to 6 months | 7½ months |
| Training phase | 3 months, $3,995 | 12 weeks, $3,995 |
| Outreach | 8 weeks, $4,000 to $6,000 | Two 9-week outreaches, $7,000 to $10,000 |
| Debrief | 2 weeks | 2 weeks |
| Outreach region | Central and Southeast Asia | Himalayas, North Africa, India, Burma, Middle East |
|
Minimum age Next start |
17 with a high school diploma or GED |
17 with a high school diploma or GED |
| Next start | September 27, 2026 | Fall 2026 |
The Basics
What does DTS stand for?
DTS stands for Discipleship Training School. It is Youth With A Mission’s entry level program and the one every other YWAM school, staff position, and leadership track is built on top of. If you want to do anything else in YWAM, you do a DTS first.
What is a Discipleship Training School?
A DTS is a 5 to 7½ month program split into a teaching phase and an overseas outreach phase. The teaching phase covers subjects like hearing God’s voice, the Father’s heart, biblical worldview, prayer, evangelism, and missions, taught by speakers who fly in from around the world. The outreach phase sends you overseas as part of a team to put all of it into practice. It is not a classroom degree program. There are no exams, and the point is character and calling rather than credit hours, though credit is available.
How long is a YWAM DTS?
The Classic DTS runs 5 to 6 months: 3 months of lecture, 8 weeks of outreach, and 2 weeks of debrief. The Ekballō DTS runs 7½ months: 12 weeks of training, two separate 9-week outreaches, and 2 weeks of debrief and graduation. Both are full time and residential on our Ephrata campus during the training phase.
What is the difference between the Classic DTS and the Ekballō DTS?
Classic is the standard 5 to 6 month school with one 8-week outreach into Central and Southeast Asia. Ekballō is longer, harder, and aimed at the least reached regions on earth, with two 9-week outreaches into places like the Himalayas, North Africa, India, Burma, or the Middle East. Ekballō costs more because the destinations cost more to reach and stay in. Choose Classic if you want a foundational discipleship season. Choose Ekballō if you already sense a call to frontier missions and want the training pointed that direction.
Cost and paying for it
How much does a YWAM DTS cost?
A Classic DTS at YWAM Lancaster costs roughly $7,995 to $9,995 all in. That breaks down as $3,995 for the three month lecture phase plus $4,000 to $6,000 for outreach, with the outreach number set by your destination.
An Ekballō DTS costs approximately $10,995 to $13,995 all in: $3,995 for the 12 week training phase plus $7,000 to $10,000 for the two outreaches.
Prices are set per session and can change between schools, so confirm the current figure when you apply.
What does the tuition actually cover?
The lecture phase fee covers your housing, all your food, every teacher who comes through, and the books on the required reading list. The outreach fee covers international airfare and travel, housing and food in the field, and ministry expenses on the ground. What is not covered: your passport and visas, personal spending money, vaccinations, insurance, and getting yourself to Ephrata at the start. Our refund policy covers what happens if your plans change.
Why does a DTS cost that much?
You are paying for roughly half a year of housing and food, a rotating faculty of speakers, and international airfare with several weeks of in-country expenses on the other end. Compared against a semester of college plus a summer abroad, it is inexpensive. The cost is also the whole cost. There is no tuition on top of it, no separate room and board bill, and no student loan attached to any of it. Most students finish a DTS owing nothing.
How do people pay for a DTS?
Almost nobody writes a check for the whole thing. The normal path is support raising, which usually means some combination of these:
- Telling your home church what you are doing and inviting them to partner with you
- Writing personal support letters to family, friends, and people who have invested in you before
- Speaking to your youth group or small group about where you are going
- Working part time in the months before your start date
- Running a fundraiser, from bake sales to skills auctions
The lecture phase payment is due on the first day of school. Outreach money is due before departure, which gives you roughly three months on campus to finish raising it. Our financial guide walks through the whole process.
Requirements and applying
What are the requirements for a YWAM DTS?
The bar is deliberately low. You need to be at least 17 years old, have finished high school or earned a GED, be a follower of Jesus who wants to grow, and hold a passport valid for at least six months past your graduation date. You do not need Bible college, a ministry background, missions experience, or a specific denomination. You apply with an interest form, then a full application, then an interview and acceptance decision.
Is there an age limit for a DTS?
There is a minimum but no maximum. You need to be 17 or older with high school or a GED behind you. Beyond that, anyone can do a DTS. Schools regularly include gap year students, career changers in their thirties and forties, and retirees. The mix is part of what makes the community work.
Do I need a passport for a DTS?
Yes, and it needs to stay valid for at least six months after your graduation date, not just after your outreach. If you do not have one, start the application before your school starts, because processing times move around and some outreach destinations need visas on top of the passport.
When do the next schools start, and how do I apply?
The next Classic DTS runs September 27, 2026 to March 6, 2027. The one after that runs January 3, 2027 to June 4, 2027. The next Ekballō DTS starts in Fall 2026, with exact dates announced shortly.
Applying is three steps. Fill out the interest form, which is ten short questions and takes a few minutes. Complete the full application. Then we talk with you and let you know. Start with the interest form even if you are still deciding, because it opens the conversation without committing you to anything.
Life on the school
What does a normal day at DTS look like?
Weekdays run roughly 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and follow the same rhythm: corporate worship and prayer in the morning, lecture from the week’s speaker, work duties that keep the base running, small group discipleship, and local ministry in the Lancaster area. Meals are communal. You will meet regularly with a staff mentor. Weekends stay mostly open for rest, church, and the friendships that end up being the part people talk about years later.
Where will I go on outreach, and when will I find out?
Classic DTS outreaches go into Central and Southeast Asia. Ekballō outreaches go to the hardest and least reached regions, which may include the Himalayas, North Africa, India, Burma, or the Middle East. You will know your specific destination by week three or four of the lecture phase, which leaves the rest of the phase to prepare: language and culture study, intercession for the people you are going to, and building your team before you travel together.
Do I have to do the outreach phase?
Yes. Outreach is not an optional add on, it is half the school. The lecture phase gives you the foundation and the outreach phase is where it gets tested and becomes yours. You have to complete all three phases, including the two week debrief, to graduate and to be eligible for anything else in YWAM.
Can married couples and families do a DTS?
Yes, and families are genuinely welcomed here. Married couples do the school at the same time rather than one at a time, because the growth is significant enough that going through it separately puts real strain on a marriage. If one spouse has already completed a DTS, the other can still do the school and the completed spouse may be able to audit at reduced cost.
Children are welcome on campus, but you are responsible for arranging childcare during school hours on weekdays. Families typically bring a nanny or arrange care locally. Talk to us early if this is your situation, because the logistics are workable but they take planning.
Credit, and what comes after
Do I get college credit for a DTS?
Yes. The University of the Nations awards 12 credits for the lecture phase and 1 credit for each week of outreach, so a Classic DTS is worth roughly 20 credits. UofN operates in more than 160 nations and grants Associate’s, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degrees. It is not accredited through the U.S. system, but many accredited institutions accept UofN credits on transfer. If credit matters to your plan, check with your specific school’s registrar before you start rather than after.
What happens after DTS?
Graduating a DTS unlocks the rest of YWAM. Most people go one of three ways. Some go home with a clearer sense of calling and apply it there. Some go into a secondary school, like the Catalyst Bible School, the Catalyst Leadership School, or the School of Worship. Some join staff, which means completing an internship or an advanced training school first and then stepping into a staff role here or at another base. The two week debrief phase exists specifically to help you figure out which of those is yours.
Is YWAM tied to one denomination?
No. Youth With A Mission is interdenominational and international. Students and staff come out of Baptist, Pentecostal, non denominational, Anglican, Methodist, Mennonite, and plenty of other backgrounds, and the teaching stays on the ground held in common: Scripture, the character of God, prayer, and the Great Commission. At YWAM Lancaster we have seen growing engagement from the Amish and Mennonite communities across Lancaster County, which has shaped our base in ways we did not plan and are grateful for.
Is a DTS worth it?
That is a fair question to ask about six months and eight thousand dollars, and the honest answer is that it depends what you want out of it. If you want a credential an employer will recognize, a DTS is not that. If you want a season that clarifies what you actually believe, drops you into a culture very different from your own, and puts you in a position where you have to depend on God and on other people in ways normal life never requires, that is precisely what it is built for.
You will find criticism of YWAM online, and we would rather you read it than not. YWAM is decentralized, which means individual bases vary a great deal in culture, leadership, and quality, and someone’s experience depends heavily on which base they went to. So ask hard questions before you choose one, including of us. Come visit if you can, sit in on a morning worship, and talk to students who are partway through rather than only to the ones in the promo video.
Why do a DTS at YWAM Lancaster specifically?
We sit on 59 acres in Ephrata, in the middle of Lancaster County, and the base is built around hunger for God’s presence, dependence on the Holy Spirit, unity between believers, and boldness in proclaiming the gospel. We partner with the Ending Bible Poverty Movement, and our outreaches are pointed at the 10/40 Window rather than at easy destinations.
If you want to see it before you commit, our corporate worship and prayer is open to the public every weekday morning at 8:30.
Learn more about DTS
You have the numbers. The next thing worth doing is looking at the schools themselves.
Our Discipleship Training School overview puts the Classic DTS and the Ekballō DTS side by side, walks through all three phases, and shows you what six months here would actually hold.
