Is it permissible to pay application fees to foreign universities, knowing that these fees are non-refundable in case of rejection, but are deducted from the registration expenses upon acceptance?

There appears to be no Shari'ah impediment to taking a sum of money in exchange for reviewing a student's application file. This sum is characterized as a fee for the effort and time expended in reviewing the file and assessing the student's eligibility for university admission. The university collects this fee whether the student is accepted or not. These fees must be reasonable and proportionate to the actual cost and effort expended, and not be a pretext for unlawfully devouring people's wealth. This is analogous to the administrative fees charged by banks for processing transactions, provided that these fees do not exceed the actual cost.