The reason why saving at university is a problem is because this bug sticks with save games. Thus, if you apply a fix that works, and then load into a university game, it will still be bugged, even if you've really solved the problem.
I'll also point out that even if you say you aren't using mods, you might actually have the store fixes which are causing this issue. Many don't consider them mods because they are unofficial patches of sorts. But they are still mods and they are causing this bug.
It very well might be that one day, you realized that store items were hopelessly glitched, you did a google search for a fix, and you installed it following the instructions. And in doing so, you now have mods. So even if you think you don't have any, check this folder:
my documents/electronic arts/the sims 3/mods/packages
look for files that have storefix in the name, there are a few that do this.
And as I said above, a current save in university will be corrupted. You can try dropping out and coming back, but if that doesn't work, you may have to use a save you made before you installed university life. Or start a new game entirely.
Lastly, stop complaining about EA releasing buggy games. This isn't a bug with the vanilla game, but with third party mods. They are not responsible. Nor will they fix this.