3k Down Payment At Asian College?

My girlfriend is signing up for classes at Asian College and they are saying they have a 3k pesos "down payment" (that could mean all kinds of things and only leaves me with more questions than answers). According to their website they say there is a "Php 950.00 reservation or pre-enrollment fee" and mentions nothing else about additional fees. I'm not happy about the difference in the posted price and the price they are telling my gf. I find it odd that they demand a letter of good moral character from students yet them having hidden costs is morally/ethically questionable.

I'm trying to figure out why the price they post online and the price they say in person is different and where the extra costs are coming from. Perhaps the "down payment" is for the actual cost of the classes....but they won't be able to tell her what the total cost will be until my gf takes the admission exam so I wouldn't agree to pay a downpayment for something I don't know the total cost of. I'd also like to know if this "down payment" is refundable (I have a feeling I already know the answer to that). I have a feeling I should have went to the school with her since her replies or the college's answers aren't making any sense.

Maybe someone else who has been through this can explain this to me:

Me: Also ask them to itemize the down payment so I can see what the money is going for since they are less than honest about their fees online.
GF: They can give the total fees after their enrollment system will be set for 2nd semester.
GF: We can get the assessment when it is fixed because it is system generated
Me: So why does their website say P950 to apply for school? I don't understand how they can ask for a downpayment when they can't even give you a price for the classes.
GF: It's a reservation fee. Not downpayment
Me: the reservation fee on their website says 950
GF: We can't enroll today because their enrollment system is not yet set for 2nd sem. We can get the official copy of total fees next week then enroll right away
GF: If we pay the down payment of 3000 next week. We don't need to pay for reservation fee of 950
Me: So I have to pay 3k pesos to not pay P950? Tell me how that makes sense.

You get the idea.....going in circles. Maybe I'm just missing something here.

 

Her last reply added a little clarification:

GF: If we will reserve for a slot for enrollment, we have to pay 950. But since we can enroll earlier we don't need to pay the reservation fee. We can immediately pay for the 3000 down payment. The down payment will be deducted to the total fees already.

I'm still not completely there yet but I think I understand what might be going on.

 

Well I don't have it completely figured out yet. I still don't see any sense in paying the 3k down payment. She is trying to say that the 3k down payment will go towards the 950 reservation fee and the cost of the classes. I don't want to pay anything more than the reservation fee because she needs to pass an admission exam before she can figure out what classes she needs to take....or if she can even get into the school. I know how getting your money back goes in the Philippines, once it leaves your hands nothing short of a lawsuit (or beating the crap out of them and taking it) is going to get it back. I'm not saying she is going to fail the exam but in this country I like to prepare for the worst case scenario.....especially when money is concerned.

To add confusion she said she was going to STI (a completely different school from my understanding) to talk to them about the 2nd semester after she finished at Asian College. I have no idea why she is doing that and she said she would explain when she got home. Probably best as prying a straight, and non-confusing, answer out of a Filipina requires a face to face and repetitively asking the same question in as many different ways as you can reword it.

(I think they spend their entire life telling lies, half truths and watching all those drama2x shows that when it comes time to give a simple straight answer they just don't know how to do it. Example: I cooked last night and asked my gf if she wanted some and she said no. I thought maybe she didn't like what I was cooking.....so I didn't cook for her. Later she got mad at me for not cooking enough for her. Her reply: "You were supposed to cook for me even though I said no!"..... Why do they have to be so difficult?)

 

Alright, I have it mostly figured out now, though initially I didn't get much help from the paperwork she brought me. First, she went to STI because the same classes were cheaper there, so my original two post about Asian College are completely irrelevant now. (She did try explaining why they wanted the 3k but it still wasn't making any sense. Since she isn't going to go there I just gave up on that one.)
She then showed me the cost of the classes:

When I first had a look at that I thought the monthly cost was 12k+ a month plus the exam fees. (Which almost made me crap in my pants.) Once the initial shock wore off I realized that the schools would be completely empty if that were the monthly fees and I had a closer look at the costs. It's only 2,707 a month for a total of 13,330 for a semester (or term...or year?). STI has no entrance exam and no reservation fees. You just pay the first month upfront, meet all the ID requirements, then start classes. I do have questions about her starting in the second semester: if she is not going to be able to go to all the classes she shouldn't (or I shouldn't) be paying full price for the semester. They should be breaking the monthly fee down into semester hours. That is something she will be going tomorrow to ask them about.

Here is the breakdown of the classes at STI for what she wants to go for:

 

BTW: It's hard to see but in the first year - second term they do have a class on "Logic". I can't wait until she takes that class!

 

I think they might have changed then. This brochure is from STI. (They do offer a similar 2 year course as well.)


This shows the classes for year 1-4 and says "BS Tourism Management" at the top. Maybe they have changed.