Adam B. Schaeffer was an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He has conducted extensive research on state school choice policy, politics and public opinion (with a focus on vouchers and education tax credits), as well as public K‑12 financial transparency and early childhood policy.
Schaeffer has extensive policy research experience, including detailed legislative development and analysis, as well as analysis of public opinion and political coalitions. He has commented on education issues in print and broadcast media including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News and provided policy advice and testimony on the merits of schools choice policy to policy and political actors across the country.
Schaeffer received his Ph.D. in American politics, with a focus in political behavior, media effects, and coalitional politics, from the University of Virginia. His dissertation assessed the potential for combinations of school choice policies and messages to expand and mobilize elite and mass support. He received his M.A. in Social Science from the University of Chicago, where his thesis integrated aspects of evolutionary theory and psychology with political theory and strategy.