You can get a small educational discount on the hardware and on Applecare.
The back to school promo, in the past, was a rebate equivalent to a free iPod touch, the least expensive one (you pay the taxes), if you bought a qualifying Apple product. You could get a higher capacity and pay the difference. The promo runs from August(?) till the start of September. On the rebate form, it normally lists the models that can qualify for the rebate.
Bob