Apple's qualifying pool is fairly generous, "Available to current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and homeschool teachers of all grade levels." I don't think they actually check for it when you're ordering software online, it's based on the honor system. You could also register for an edX course or something and meet the requirement I think.
I'm not that familiar with that DAW, so I'm not that much help there. From what I've seen, you can probably find discounts on that DAW around festival times.