TL;DR: Cebu academies advertise a package price, but that is not the number you pay. Using 3D Academy's own published tables, four weeks of Practical ESL in a quad room lists at US$1,266 — and lands at roughly US$1,655-1,663 (about ₱103,000) once the enrolment fee, airport pickup, Special Study Permit, textbooks, electricity and maintenance fee are added. Twelve weeks lists at US$3,798 and lands near US$4,560-4,584 (about ₱283,000). The premium over the sticker is about 31% at four weeks and 20% at twelve, because the biggest add-on, the SSP, is paid once. Not every Cebu school publishes prices at all, and we say below which do.
Two Ways Cebu Schools Price a Course
Cebu academies use one of two models, and the difference matters more than any headline number.
Bundled packages. One price covers tuition, a dorm bed and three meals a day, quoted per four weeks and varying by room type and by how many one-to-one classes you take. This is the dominant model and the one most students compare.
Unbundled components. Lessons, accommodation and meals are priced separately, and you assemble the total. QQEnglish in Cebu works this way, publishing lessons per plan, dormitory at US$13 per night for stays of four weeks or more, and meals at US$10 per day.
Both models exclude a similar set of local fees. Neither is inherently cheaper; the unbundled model is just harder to compare and easier to underestimate.
Published Package Prices: 3D Academy
3D Academy publishes complete course fee tables by room type and duration. These are the school's own figures from its General English page.
Practical ESL — 4 one-to-one + 3 group + 2 optional classes per day:
| Room | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 12 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | US$1,736 | US$3,472 | US$5,208 |
| Double | US$1,576 | US$3,152 | US$4,728 |
| Triple | US$1,366 | US$2,732 | US$4,098 |
| Quadruple | US$1,266 | US$2,532 | US$3,798 |
| Sextuple | US$1,156 | US$2,312 | US$3,468 |
Intensive ESL — 5 one-to-one + 3 group + 2 optional — runs US$1,346 (sextuple) to US$1,926 (single) for four weeks. Platinum ESL — 6 one-to-one + 3 group — runs US$1,526 to US$2,106 for four weeks.
Note what the table shows: the 8-week and 12-week prices are exactly double and triple the 4-week price. There is no volume discount on tuition here. If a school tells you longer bookings are cheaper per week, ask to see it in the table.
The Unbundled Model: QQEnglish
QQEnglish publishes lesson plans without accommodation or meals, then charges those on top.
| Lessons per day | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 12 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 one-to-one | US$784 | US$1,520 | US$2,280 |
| 4 one-to-one + 2 group | US$884 | US$1,713 | US$2,569 |
| 6 one-to-one | US$1,078 | US$2,155 | US$3,233 |
| 6 one-to-one + 2 group | US$1,178 | US$2,348 | US$3,522 |
| 8 one-to-one | US$1,437 | US$2,874 | US$4,310 |
Campus capsule dormitory is US$13 per night for stays of four weeks or more, so 28 nights is US$364. Meals are US$10 per day and, per the school's own note, are counted across every day of the stay including entry and graduation days, not just class days: US$280 for four weeks. Registration is US$150, airport pickup US$30.
Assembled, four weeks at four one-to-one lessons a day with dorm and meals is US$1,608 before local fees — visibly more than the US$784 headline.
What the Package Leaves Out
Every school we checked publishes a second list, in pesos, payable in cash at the school office on arrival. Here is what the published lists actually contain.
| Item | 3D Academy (Cebu) | QQEnglish (Cebu) | BOC English Academy (Cebu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolment / registration | US$100 | US$150 | US$100 |
| Special Study Permit | ₱12,040 (3 months) | ₱10,440 | ₱7,800 |
| ACR I-Card / e-Card | ₱4,000 | ₱3,200 (59+ days) | ₱4,500 |
| Student ID | — | ₱300 | ₱200 |
| Visa extension | not listed | ₱4,460 per month | not listed |
| Textbooks | ~₱1,000 per 4 weeks | ₱1,000-2,000 | not listed |
| Dorm electricity | ₱1,000-1,500 per 4 weeks | ₱100 per day | not listed |
| Maintenance | ₱500 per week | — | — |
| Airport pickup | US$30 one way | US$30 | ₱1,200 one way |
| Refundable deposit | ₱4,500 (1-19 weeks) | — | — |
Two things stand out. First, dorm electricity is metered separately almost everywhere, and QQEnglish's ₱100 per day works out to ₱2,800 over four weeks — roughly double 3D's flat charge. Second, the peso fees are not small change: they add roughly US$235-270 to a four-week stay and US$520-660 to a twelve-week one.
The SSP: What the Government Charges, and What Schools Charge
Any foreign national taking a non-degree course needs a Special Study Permit, not a student visa. The Bureau of Immigration publishes its own fee schedule for the SSP:
| BI published item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application fee | ₱2,000 |
| Implementation fee | ₱1,000 |
| Service fee | ₱200 |
| Certificate fee | ₱500 |
| Legal research fee | ₱40 |
| Express fees (certification, filing, I-Card processing) | ₱1,500 |
| Total | ₱5,240 |
| Additional I-Card fee | US$50 |
That is about ₱8,340 all-in at current rates. Cebu and Baguio schools quote between ₱7,800 and ₱12,040 for the SSP, with an I-Card charge of ₱3,200-4,500 on top — commonly ₱12,300 for the pair. The gap covers the school lodging the application on your behalf, and possibly fee increases BI has not published: the fee tables on immigration.gov.ph carry the note that fees "are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice."
This is not a scandal, but it is a line item worth asking about. A school that will itemise its SSP charge is telling you something useful about how it handles the rest of your money.
The ACR I-Card only bites past 59 days. BI states the card is issued to registered aliens "whose stay in the Philippines has exceeded fifty-nine (59) days," including Temporary Visitor's Visa holders. A four- or eight-week course stays under the line. A twelve-week one does not.
Visa extensions are the other duration trap. A visa-free entry gives 30 days. BI's published 9(a) visa waiver adds 29 more days for a total of ₱3,030. Beyond 59 days the schedule gets more complicated and BI does not publish a single all-in figure for it; the schools that do publish theirs quote ₱4,460 per month (QQEnglish) or ₱11,150 for a 10-12 week stay (HELP, at its Clark and Baguio campuses).
The All-In Numbers
Worked from the published figures above, converting at about ₱62 to US$1 (28 August 2026). Refundable deposits are excluded, as is airfare.
3D Academy, Practical ESL, quadruple room:
| Sticker | Local fees | All-in | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | US$1,266 | ₱16,040-16,540 | US$1,655-1,663 (₱103,000) | +31% |
| 8 weeks | US$2,532 | ₱23,070-24,070 | US$3,034-3,050 (₱189,000) | +20% |
| 12 weeks | US$3,798 | ₱39,190-40,690 | US$4,560-4,584 (₱283,000) | +20% |
The 8-week figure includes the ₱3,030 visa waiver; the 12-week figure includes the ACR I-Card and an allowance for extensions past 59 days at the rates other schools publish, since 3D does not list extensions.
QQEnglish, 4 one-to-one lessons per day, capsule dorm, meals:
| Components | Local fees | All-in | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | US$1,608 | ₱14,540-15,540 | US$1,843-1,859 (₱115,000) |
| 12 weeks | US$4,392 | ₱32,260-33,260 | US$4,912-4,928 (₱305,000) |
The cheapest genuinely published four-week option we found in Cebu is 3D's Practical ESL in a sextuple room: US$1,156 sticker, roughly US$1,545-1,553 all-in. Six students to a room is the price of that number.
Who Publishes, and Who Does Not
This matters, because a school that will not put a number on a public page is a school you cannot compare.
Publishes full package tables: 3D Academy (courses by room type for 4, 8 and 12 weeks, plus an itemised local fee list).
Publishes an unbundled price list: QQEnglish (lessons by plan and duration, dorm per night, meals per day, and all local fees).
Publishes local fees but not course prices: BOC English Academy and Winning English Academy both put course pricing behind an interactive calculator; BOC does publish its SSP, e-Card, ID and pickup fees, and both publish a US$100 registration fee.
No public price page found: Cebu International Academy, SMEAG and Cebu Blue Ocean did not return a public price table when we checked in August 2026. Figures for these schools circulate on agency sites and in agency PDFs, some several years old; treat those as what agencies list, not as the school's price, and ask the school directly.
For the difference between hard-regime and relaxed academies — which drives both price and daily life — see our guide to Sparta versus semi-Sparta schools.
Questions That Change the Number
- Send me the local fee list in writing, in pesos. Every school has one. If they will not send it, that is your answer.
- Is the SSP charge itemised? Ask what portion is the BI fee and what portion is handling.
- How is electricity billed? Flat per four weeks, or metered per day? At ₱100 a day the difference over twelve weeks is real money.
- Are meals counted per class day or per calendar day? QQEnglish counts calendar days including arrival and departure.
- What happens at day 59? Confirm who lodges the I-Card and extension, and what they charge.
- Is the deposit refundable, and against what? ₱4,500 held for 12 weeks is a cost if you never see it again.
- Is there a holiday surcharge? QQEnglish publishes US$35 for classes falling on Philippine holidays.
Cebu in Context
Cebu is not automatically the cheapest hub, and it is not the only one. Baguio's published packages land in the same band, and Clark's are close behind — see Cebu vs Baguio vs Clark vs Manila for the like-for-like comparison, and our ESL schools in Cebu guide for how the city's academies differ in style rather than price. If you are still choosing a country, start with the Philippines ESL overview.
Sources
- Bureau of Immigration, Special Study Permit requirements and fees — immigration.gov.ph
- Bureau of Immigration, Special Study Permit service page — immigration.gov.ph
- Bureau of Immigration, Temporary Visitor (9A) Visa Waiver fees — immigration.gov.ph
- Bureau of Immigration, FAQs on the ACR I-Card and the 59-day rule — immigration.gov.ph
- 3D Academy, General English courses and fees — 3d-universal.com
- QQEnglish, study abroad plan and price page — qqeng.net
- BOC English Academy, program price list — bocenglishacademy.com
- Winning English Academy, school fee page — winningenglishschool.com
- HELP English Academy, tuition and local fee tables — helpenglish.org
- USD/PHP rate as of 28 August 2026 — Trading Economics
Plan Your Budget
Browse schools in Cebu City on SchoolFinderPH, then get two written quotes with the local fee list attached before you send any deposit.
