 VandeHei was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and graduated from Lourdes High School in 1989.In 1995, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh with a double major in journalism and political science.As an undergraduate, he interned at The Brillion News in Brillion, WI the summer of 1993, and with Democratic Senator Herb Kohl in 1994, which led to his decision to become a political journalist.