I applaud your efforts but they not have been in your best interests. Any time a wild animal is that sick it is best left alone. Rabies has always got to be a consideration in a diseased wild animal. Not only will you not likely save an animal in this condition it could be hazardous to your health to try. The IDNR has those policies for a reason.
In defense of the vet school, they don't have a lot of money in place for these rescue programs. If they have paying clients animals they are going to take priority. Had you offered to pay for the care of the deer I'm sure it would have gotten looked at sooner. They do what they can but the states cut budgets every year and it makes it very hard to have those type of programs in place. Sadly most of the vet schools have to operate on the funds generated by the hospital and they simply can't afford to put a lot of time and effort into these programs.