This kind of bike is great to learn maintenance on. You may struggle a bit with parts but with patience you'll find replacements, and as someone suggested 'WalMart' quality replacements are perfectly fine - cables, seat, tires, etc that will make the bike really fun. The nice thing is you don't have to deal with modern Shimano shifting which can't be serviced, 10 speed chains which if you mess up - off comes that $200 derailleur etc. This bike should be fun and relatively hassle free. Just make sure after all the love and care, that it doesn't get stolen on campus. So maybe Walmart lock too.