Best and easiest way - go back to college at a reputable school (University of Phoenix and Devry are not reputable colleges) and talk to some profs and grad students, become involved in school events, donate and volunteer for school related charity events, etc... You can easily get quite a few links and maybe even a real following this way if you have a good website and are interesting - if you're a dud then do not bother.
contact them and Rent a space on thier webpages. If you think some college kid won't take money, think again.
Good call zwitterion. Just be careful to enter meaningful comments as most will be moderated. Don't just place your links on any edu page. Make sure it is related and quality. Lots of college kids have PR0 pages and know how to fake the PR. Check all pages out thoroughly. Also make sure it really is a part of that school and not a closely related banned or faked page. Also, college kids come and go and so will your link.
have a go at this inurl:.edu inurl:wp-register some edu blogs are atill open to register and post blogs, not many but i found one yesterday no PR but that can build quickly on .edu sites