if you are able to apply $10,000 (or whatever amount you choose) to the purchase of a car out of the amount that you are allotted for living expenses, then i think you should go for it.
i assume you (op) realize that you will receive a financial aid package that gives a total yearly figure comprised of tution and fees on one hand and a budgeted amount for living expenses on the other. your financial aid package may be all loans, a combination of loans and aid, or all aid (i've never heard of this, but maybe someone has) and will be used to cover the total figure. after your tuition and fees are paid, your university will cut you a check for the amount left over, which represents what you have borrowed and will now use for living expenses. in my opinion, at that point it doesn't matter how that money was originally earmarked: sub, unsub, university alumni loan, etc--i don't care for my purposes. it's still a capped amount based on a maximum that your particular financial aid office defines as the student living expenses budget. you are always free to decline this money--esp since it is usually loan money and you may not need it. you cannot ask for more than the budget, though.
once you get that credit back of all unused monies that have been loaned or gifted to you above and beyond tuition and fees, that money is yours to do what you need. the federal government and universities have better things to do than to track what so-and-so is doing with the $9,000 or whatever he/she gets every semester to live on. it's bad enough that we are expected to live on so little. they budget, for example, $4,000 for room and board, but no one is going to check that you spend exactly $4,000 on room and board, and odn't apply $1,000 to eating out more and buying some nice clothes. that's just for the budgeting process. now perhaps if a pttern emerged that a particular inidividual always asked for the max loan amount and yet seemed to be using the money for quesitonable purposes, that would be cause for investigation. but buying a used car isn't cause for investigation. you will need a car.
but be forewarned, you won't be able to get more than the school's allotted budget through the school. so if you don't need those 10Gs to live, than by all means by something you do need. if you need more than the budgeted amount to live/buy a car/vacation, you'll have to take out a private loan.
i'll also just add that i think leasing a car is a waste of money. you might as well buy a used car. cars depreciate in value, obviously. leasing leaves you in a position of 1)paying more than what the car would cost you if you bought it outright (adding up costs over time), and 2)liable if anything should happen to the car, and 3)unable to re-coup any cost when the deal is done. at least if the car is used and not too run down, you may be able to sell it for something in the end. you don't need a new car, you need a reliable car to get you from a to b. in this country, that is not at all hard to find, since people by new cars like they buy new sneakers (thus selling the not-so-old ones). leasing is a trap, an appearance of capital...much like credit cards. good luck!
