Your dev server shouldn't be accessible to the public. If you want a server to be accessible to the public that isn't your production server (which is valid), you should be doing things as similar to production as possible (not running tests on it).
You don't have to be the real audience for your own product.
I've done interviews with e-commerce sites and can say I have never bought anything from any of the ones I interviewed with, but I have dedicated some time to observe the flow (maybe get to the point of paying and cancelling there).
Forcing me to purchase something just to be allowed to interview is an obnoxious barrier.
Did you contact the university's police department and ask them about creating/finding resources that are similar to your idea of keeping them locked away in the police department?
Is it the responsibility of a university to provide extra accommodations to students that choose to live off campus and in dangerous areas? Where should the line be drawn?
Intuit's Mint. Provides some really nice advice sometimes, such as how to avoid X or Y fee. (Some accounts that require $100+ in your checking account to avoid a $5 monthly fee)