Judith E. Scott-Clayton

Judith E. Scott-Clayton is professor of economics and education in the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis (EPSA) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Scott-Clayton is also a senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center (CCRC) and a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). She directs the Economics & Education Program and teaches courses on the economics of education, labor economics and causal inference. Her research lies at the intersection of labor economics and higher education, with a particular focus on financial aid, community colleges, and the outcomes of students after college, including labor market trajectories and patterns of student loan default. Her work crosses disciplinary boundaries and has been published widely in economics, education, and policy journals; including the Journal of Public Economics and the Economics of Education Review while she is co-editor of the Journal of Human Resources and sits on the editorial boards of Education Finance & Policy and Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis. She actively participates in higher education policy discussions at the state and federal level, testifying three times to the U.S. Senate as an expert on financial aid research and policy, and recently served on the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Dr. Scott-Clayton holds a PhD in public policy from Harvard University and a BA in sociology (with an economics minor) from Wellesley College.

updated 2024