I have contacted someone who's selling edu links on 2 sites, they assure me that it will be relavent to my niche, even if the page wasn't would the article with 20 links back to my site increase my SERPs? Or would I be wasting my time? I hear alot about Google de valuing edu links, is this correct?
It is my understanding that G has in fact de-valued .edu links as their algorithms get more sophisticated. If the page is relevant, authoritive, has some PR value, or is not far from the homepage, then it will obviously help your cause. Google has in fact publicly stated they do not give more consideration to .edu extensions, although edu''s are usually a better quality site to link from because they hold more authority than your average .com. Personally, while I do take into consideration everything Google states, I generally don't trust everything they say. I will continue to use all the free edu links I can!