Student at university I put in place (5)
I believe the answer is:
pupil
'student' is the definition.
('pupil' can be a synonym of 'student')
'at university i put in place' is the wordplay.
'at university' becomes 'up'.
'put in' is an insertion indicator.
'place' becomes 'pl' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'up'+'i'='upi'
'upi' placed into 'pl' is 'PUPIL'.
(Other definitions for pupil that I've seen before include "bit of a looker" , "School learner" , "A student at school or eye part" , "Eye opening" , "Schoolchild; part of eye" .)