A college year provides friendship (5)
I believe the answer is:
amity
'friendship' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)
'a college year' is the wordplay.
'college' becomes 'mit' (I've seen this in other clues).
'year' becomes 'y'.
'a'+'mit'+'y'='AMITY'
'provides' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for amity that I've seen before include "understanding" , "Cordial friendship" , "Friendship - goodwill" , "Accord" , "warmth" .)