Answered by Shaykh Ilyas Patel
If a student goes to university in a different city and lives in a dorm there, and assuming she comes home every weekend, does she pray qasr while she’s living at the university? Or, because she’s spending more time at university during the academic year, does she pray qasr when she comes home for the weekends?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
She will pray FULL and not shorten the prayer at home whenever she comes home. As for the university if it is more than 48 miles or more and she stays there for more than 14 days i.e. two weeks then she will perform in FULL, otherwise do qasr and shorten the prayer.
The above ruling can change if one has made the city where one is studying a second residence by bringing along most of ones property etc, so in this case one has belongings in both places and both can be regarded towns of residence, in which case one will perform the salat in full and not shorten the salat in her home town and university town.
And Allah knows best
– Ilyas