Note university students are boring (4)
I believe the answer is:
dull
'boring' is the definition.
('dull' can be similar in meaning to 'boring')
'note university students' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'd' (musical note**).
'university' becomes 'u'.
'students' becomes 'll'.
'd'+'u'+'ll'='DULL'
'are' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dull that I've seen before include "Lacking excitement" , "Lacking brightness" , "Lacklustre" , "Cloudy or boring" , "Lacking variety" .)