Struggling with my main goal - linkbuilding

Hi and thnx for letting me in. Just like every newbie, i do struggle with my main goal - linkbuilding. I`ve read tons of article on the topic and they all sound the same - skyscraper techniques, guest posts, content. I do believe it might work for some, but for - it`s a waste of time. 1st and most important the website i am working on cannot offer a blog, 2nd - most of the blogs/sites in our niche do not accept guest posting (or at least they want someone super famous). So how to get backlinks - we aim at .edu links and we can offer access to our database for the students. I`ve researched few universities and it`s quite hard to determine whom to approach and the way of approach - how to write appealing cold email? Any advices??? Thnks in advance!