A lot of people I know that are in academia get the newer OS's from Microsoft DreakSpark (for free).  You have to be associated with a higher learning environment to get an account.

Another option is to get an MSDN subscription.  They offer the OS products fairly cheap.  I know several folks who use that.  It is definitely cheaper than purchasing the OS's at retail.  Of course with licensing you can't use the OS for anything but testing, etc...

If you just need a copy of win2k server, you could go on amazon and purchase one of the Microsoft Press books for MCSE on Windows 2000.  Seems like most of those came with a 6 month eval copy of win2k server.  I have several of those books lying around here collecting dust.  I bet they're cheap now on Amazon.

MSDN subscription is definitely cool to have.  If you can't afford that $2000 a year, you can look into Microsoft Action Pack subscription.   It's about $400 a year and includes all basic versions of serves and software.  It does not include development tools.   There is a catch, you have to be a Microsoft Partner of some sorts.   It's not that difficult to be come one, you basically just need someone with a Microsoft cert in your organization.   

https://partner.microsoft.com/40016455

I am almost thinking that maybe you should drop an email to Microsoft.  They are not making any money from discontinued products, maybe they will hook you up with a download.   One can dream, right?