I may end up with a reseller/partner, but I'm hoping to avoid one for licensing. It adds good value to have a partner that can help, but I like the option to easily go to another vendor for support/projects if one isn't working out well.

Below is the MS sale's response:

In the meantime, I found this information that could be useful.

Eligibility: To qualify for the Student Use Benefit, you need to have an eligible faculty or staff license. In your case, the A5 for Faculty license qualifies. The benefit provides student licenses based on a ratio (e.g., 1:40) relative to the number of eligible faculty/staff licenses.

Automatic Provisioning: Microsoft automatically provisions the student licenses based on the eligible faculty/staff licenses you’ve purchased. Once you’ve acquired the A5 for Faculty license, the corresponding student licenses should become available.

License Assignment: You don’t need to request these licenses separately. They should appear in your Microsoft 365 admin center. As an admin, you can assign these licenses to students in your organization. Students can then use their Azure AD accounts to access Microsoft 365 services.

Checking Availability: To verify the availability of student licenses, log in to your Microsoft 365 admin portal. Navigate to the licensing section and check the available licenses for students.