Judith E. Scott-Clayton

Judith Scott-Clayton is a Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, in the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis. She is also a Faculty Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Senior Research Scholar at the Community College Research Center. Scott-Clayton’s research is focused at the intersection of labor economics and higher education, with an emphasis on postsecondary education finance, financial aid, community colleges, and the outcomes of students after college, including labor market trajectories and patterns of student loan default. Scott-Clayton actively participates in higher education policy discussions at the state and federal level, including testifying four times (most recently in 2020) to the U.S. Senate as an expert on financial aid research and policy. In 2022-23, she served in the White House as a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. Scott-Clayton holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.