[8] Schapiro received a Bachelor of Science magna cum laude with a major in economics from Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, where he studied with Herman A. Berliner.

[11] He left Williams to become the chair of the economics department at the University of Southern California in 1991, rising to become the dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences in 1994, and the vice president for planning in 1998.

[23][24] Schapiro has thanked the "illustrious" faculty, students, staff, trustees and alumni and cited his accomplishments, including the university's rise in college rankings.

Schapiro has authored more than 100 articles, and written or edited nine books including Cents and Sensibility: What Economics Can Learn from the Humanities" (with Gary Saul Morson, Princeton University Press 2017); The Student Aid Game: Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent in American Higher Education (with Michael McPherson, Princeton University Press 1998); Paying the Piper: Productivity, Incentives and Financing in Higher Education (with Michael McPherson and Gordon Winston, University of Michigan Press 1993); Keeping College Affordable: Government and Educational Opportunity (with Michael McPherson, The Brookings Institution 1991); and an edited volume, "The Fabulous Future?

[33][34] A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Schapiro has received honorary degrees from Amherst College (2001, where he delivered the Class Day address),[35][36] Hofstra (2006),[37] Wesleyan University (LLD, 2008),[38][39] University of Notre Dame (2013),[40] and Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary (2013, where he delivered the commencement oration).