Usefulness seen in university during Depression (5)
I believe the answer is:
value
'usefulness' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'university during depression' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'during' is an insertion indicator.
'depression' becomes 'vale' (vale is a kind of depression).
'u' placed inside 'vale' is 'VALUE'.
'seen in' is the link.
(Other definitions for value that I've seen before include "Worth; prize" , "Appreciate" , "Intrinsic goodness" , "Estimate the worth of" , "Monetary worth" .)