Maya is still great for students and non-profit work, but I've spent some time learning Blender as I won't be a student forever. It turns out that Blender has become very powerful over the last few years and has a nice workflow once the adjustment period is over (right-clicking to select? You know what I'm talking about...
)Also, what file format do you use to transfer assets from Maya to UE4? Are you using an FBX pipeline?