A quote for studying in the Philippines mixes lines that sit inside the fee table with lines you pay separately on the spot. Using the official fee pages of nine schools, we compare how the lines for tuition, housing, enrollment, books, SSP, transfers and deposits are named and paid. For the big picture of costs, see our guide to studying English in the Philippines. Checked on 31 October 2026.
In short
The lines on a quote fall into two groups: the fee-table price paid before you travel, and the local fees paid after you arrive. The same cost gets different names at different schools, and the SSP appears as “SSP application fee”, “SSP acquisition cost” or “SSP + I-Card”. For each line, check whether it is inside the fee table and when and where you pay it.
A quote has two kinds of lines
School fee pages split their lines into the fee table and everything else. Target shows a “course fee (tuition plus housing)” table, then separate tables for local payments that are required and local payments that are optional.
At HELP, the total is tuition plus housing, and local fees are a separate table paid at the school office. Read each line of your quote with these three questions.
- Is it inside the fee-table price?
- When do you pay it (a transfer before travel, or after arrival)?
- Where and in what currency (a bank transfer, or cash in pesos locally)?
Tuition and housing: one line or two, and are meals in?
Some schools combine tuition and housing into one price, and others show them as two lines. Target combines them as the “course fee”. HELP separates them for every four weeks: ESL is USD 900 and a four-person room is USD 600.
In HELP’s worked example, 12 weeks comes to (USD 900 + 600) × 12 weeks ÷ 4 = USD 4,500, with local fees not included. Curious World Academy shows tuition, housing and meals together, and its Standard plan in a four-person room is USD 1,400 for four weeks. It says three meals a day, Monday to Sunday, are included.
The table below shows what sits inside each school’s fee-table price and what is a separate line.
Well English Academy says its listed price includes lessons, housing, three meals on weekdays, Wi-Fi, and cleaning and laundry twice a week. So even a “four-week price” differs on meals and laundry from school to school. For why tuition ranges so widely, see our article on reading tuition in Cebu.
Target (Cebu)
Inside the fee-table price: Tuition and housing
Separate lines: Enrollment fee, SSP, ACR I-CARD, visa extensions, textbooks, electricity, water, shared costs, deposit, transfers
HELP (Clark)
Inside the fee-table price: Tuition (classes, materials, exams) and housing (room, meals, drinking water)
Separate lines: Deposit, visa extensions, SSP and E-Card, utilities, facility maintenance, laundry, ACR Card, learning materials, school ID
CEGA (Cebu)
Inside the fee-table price: Tuition, housing, meals (three a day on weekdays), internet
Separate lines: Enrollment and registration fee, transfers, utilities, facility fee, SSP, visa, I-card, textbooks, laundry
Curious World (Cebu)
Inside the fee-table price: Lessons, housing, meals (three a day)
Separate lines: First-time materials and test fee, SSP and E-CARD, electricity, water, cleaning fee, transfers, ID card, deposit
B&D (Dumaguete)
Inside the fee-table price: One-on-one lessons and housing
Separate lines: Registration fee (3 weeks or less), SSP and I-Card, visa extensions, water, electricity, textbooks, student ID
Paradise English (Boracay)
Inside the fee-table price: Tuition
Separate lines: Housing, registration fee, SSP, textbooks, airport pickup, lunch
Grandline (Manila)
Inside the fee-table price: Enrollment fee, lessons (materials included), weekday breakfast, housing
Separate lines: SSP, visa extensions, ACR I-Card, utilities, Wi-Fi, laundry, transfers, other meals, insurance, airfare
Enrollment and registration fees: inside the price or separate
Some schools include the enrollment fee and others list it separately. Grandline names the enrollment fee under what the study price includes. Target writes “enrollment fee USD 150 + course fee + local payments = total cost”, so its enrollment fee is a separate line.
Paradise English lists a one-time registration fee of USD 130 under “Fees” below its price table. B&D’s registration fee is 5,000 pesos, charged only for stays of three weeks or less and free from four weeks. It appears in the local expenses table.
CEGA has an enrollment and registration fee line and asks for it by bank transfer within a week of applying. So the same kind of line can be a transfer before travel at one school and a peso payment on arrival at another.
Books and materials: included, or bought on top
Grandline writes “lessons (materials included)”, so materials are in the study price. Target puts textbooks in a local payment line as “purchased items”, estimated at 2,000 pesos for 3 to 4 weeks and 3,000 pesos for 5 to 8 weeks.
HELP says tuition covers classes, books and exams, yet its local fees table also has a “Learning Materials” line, 1,700 pesos for up to four weeks. The same item appears in two places, so ask which one covers what before you accept a quote.
Outside its price table, Curious World Academy lists a further USD 150 for first-time materials, a level test and learning counseling (counseling only if requested). Paradise English charges USD 16 per textbook, and CEGA’s textbooks cost 150 to 600 pesos each.
SSP, visa extensions and ACR I-Card: one cost, different line names
Schools name the SSP differently and bundle it differently. The table below shows each school’s line name and amount as printed on its official fee page, in the school’s own currency.
B&D combines the SSP and I-Card in one line. Target, CEGA, HELP and Curious World show the ACR I-Card separately. Visa extensions and the ACR I-Card are lines that appear as a stay gets longer, and our article on local fees by weeks adds them up.
CEGA says visa and other peso-denominated fees are paid in cash in pesos on the first day. HELP says cash at the school office, and B&D says cash in pesos on arrival. Paradise English lists its fee in US dollars under “Fees” and does not say in the table when it is paid.
Target (Cebu)
Line name on the fee page: SSP application fee, SSP E-CARD application fee
Amount: 7,800 pesos, 4,500 pesos
CEGA (Cebu)
Line name on the fee page: SSP acquisition cost
Amount: 11,800 pesos
HELP (Clark)
Line name on the fee page: SSP & ECard
Amount: 12,300 pesos
Curious World (Cebu)
Line name on the fee page: SSP issuance fee + SSP E-CARD
Amount: 12,300 pesos
B&D (Dumaguete)
Line name on the fee page: SSP + I-Card
Amount: 10,000 pesos
Grandline (Manila)
Line name on the fee page: SSP (Special Study Permit), every 24 weeks
Amount: 7,000 pesos
Paradise English (Boracay)
Line name on the fee page: Special Study Permit
Amount: USD 200
Utilities, water and laundry: lines that build up weekly
Names and units for electricity and water differ by school. These are the line names and amounts from each official table.
- Target: electricity 600 pesos a week, water 200 pesos a week, shared costs 500 pesos a week (extra if electricity goes over the set amount)
- CEGA: utilities and drinking water 500 pesos a week, facility fee 150 pesos a week
- Curious World: electricity 800 pesos a week, water 300 pesos a week, cleaning fee 600 pesos a week
- B&D: water 125 pesos a week, electricity at actual meter cost
- Grandline: utilities 1,000 pesos a week
- HELP: utilities, facility maintenance and laundry are monthly costs in the local fees table
- Laundry: Well English Academy includes it twice a week in the listed price, while Grandline charges 210 pesos a load and Target 150 pesos a load (up to 6 kg) separately
Airport transfers, deposits and insurance: optional lines and refundable lines
Airport transfers are a separate line at most schools. Target’s base fee is 1,200 pesos from the airport to the school. CEGA charges 1,500 pesos (optional), English Fella 1,000 pesos for arrival only, and Curious World 1,500 pesos one way from the airport to the school. B&D’s round-trip transfer is free. Grandline arranges transfers at a separate charge per one way.
A deposit is a refundable line. Target’s deposit is 2,500 pesos, refunded at move-out if the facilities and equipment are not damaged or lost. HELP’s room deposit is 3,000 pesos (Clark), refunded after deducting fines, extra laundry charges and room damage. Curious World also has a 1,500-peso housing deposit line, and its table gives no refund conditions.
Insurance and airfare sit outside the school’s price. Well English Academy says travel insurance is individual and required. Grandline lists travel insurance and airfare under “other costs you will need”. Paradise English lists international and domestic airfare, meals (unless stated), and tourist visa extension and documentation fees as not included.
Next step: check your quote against the school’s table
Check the quote in your hands with the Study Abroad Quote Check. You can read its line names and amounts against the school’s official fee table.
For local fee totals by number of weeks, see the article on local fees, and for example totals see our guide to studying English in the Philippines. Compare schools in the list of schools in the Philippines.
Sources
Official information from each company
- Target Global English Academy: Tuition (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- HELP English Academy: Tuition and fees (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- CEGA: Fees (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- Curious World Academy: ESL course (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- B&D English School: Study costs (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- Paradise English: Course prices 2026 (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- Grandline: Study abroad (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- Well English Academy: Courses, rooms and fees (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- English Fella: Local expenses (checked 31 Oct 2026)
