There may be a high-gain directional antenna available, designed for your operating frequency. Here in Chaska, Minnesota, we have community wi-fi. The antenna is a $45 add-on component, when we need to boost the signal.
If you're lucky you'll have line of sight to a university network hub which is positioned near a window.
Or, try to find out if the university can provide for you to get on a VPN (virtual private network), via your normal internet hookup.
See, this is where I get stupid. I didn't know the "cantenna" could be used on the receiving end. I was under the impression that you could only use it to direct the output signal.
Like,
You get X output from the router in every direction (x,y,z axis). So if you direct it, you're getting the same output but within a much smaller area. Inverse sq law may apply here.
I don't understand how antenna gain works on the input side.