I have been using an M1 mbp 256 gb w 16gb of ram since it came out in 2020 for professional development. I develop iOS and visionOS apps, and this laptop still has good performance!
But, every time Apple releases an Xcode beta, or when I am limited to a prior version of Xcode (when I need more thean 1 Xcode version on disk), I do have to do some disk cleanup, which I find tedious.
For studies, I would recommend a MacBook that would also allow you to do professional development after you have graduated, and will still last you several more years! As mentioned above, the M2 air is a great choice, and would recommend at least 512 GB as well to avoid the chore of clearing up some disk space. Whatever you choose though, get at least 16 gb of ram!
Dreaming of that M3 max :P