Tiffany Waits is a senior research director in NORC’s Education & Child Development department where she leads complex research initiatives focused on education. Her expertise spans survey design, mixed-methods evaluation, and policy analysis, with deep experience in qualitative research including in-depth interviews and focus groups with youth and young adults. She brings over 25 years of experience delivering actionable insights for federal agencies, foundations, and higher education institutions.

At NORC, Tiffany has directed a study of college-age young adults as part of a randomized controlled trial of the Chicago Scholars program, overseeing all aspects of survey data collection. She also serves as the data collection and project lead for the Politics and Higher Education study, funded by NYU-Abu Dhabi, which surveys faculty and postsecondary institutional leaders across the United States about their current work environment to help inform the public and policymakers.

She also serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, teaching courses on research methodology, and holds a certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from Georgetown University. Her scholarship bridges academic and applied research, contributing to evidence-based decision-making in education and social policy.

Before joining NORC, Tiffany spent nearly two decades at Mathematica, where she managed large-scale surveys and qualitative studies for federal clients.