You've got some good thoughts on what to buy for a small dorm system so i can't add much to your speaker choices. I think they sound pretty good. I wish i had known about axiom back 10 years ago when i had $1500 to spend one term.
As for receivers, cheap is always a hard thing to find when looking at quality receivers but if you absolutely need to keep costs low, then at least get a good brand name. Offhand i don't know tons but i've used/heard extensively onkyo, denon, yamaha and pioneer before. I would recommend any of the first three over the Pioneers though.
good luck, keep buying those lotto tickets
