Am currently a student and am on my own. Go help out in a supermarket on the weekend and earn some money. Unfortunately, my computer broke down, so I needed a new one. Maybe there are cheap models you could get?
So if you just want to do some office stuff for the university I would recommend you this:
https://geizhals.de/...cription=1
Cheaper it is not. It has a full HD display, expandable RAM, is light and small, has an SSD and a usable processor.
Edit: Operating system is not there, but that's easy to install and a key for Windows is already very cheap.
I have had my old ACER 10 years in operation. Because Vista gets no updates, I unfortunately had to buy another notebook. I bought used for 150 euro needed. Has been in operation for over 2 months and runs perfectly.
Acer Aspire 7750 G -PC 64 bit, 17 inches is mine:-))