Well, I'm on my second Volvo ('98 S70 GLT, preceded by an '89 740), and my wife's driving a '94 Accord. I much prefer driving the Volvos, but I can tell you the Honda's been a LOT cheaper to own. I think I've put, all told, over the course of its life, about $650 in repairs into the Honda, and it's currently sitting at 150,000 miles.

Obviously initial purchase price wil be a factor (you didn't mention how much the Acura and Accord were) but for cost of maintenance/repair, it'd be tough to beat the Accord. As much as I love my Volvos, they DO like the inside of a service bay; if I were a college student with very limited funds (as opposed to being out of college with very limited funds, I guess), the Accord would be my choice.