Judith Scott-Clayton is a professor of economics and education in the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis (Economics and Education program) at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she teaches courses in labor economics and quantitative methods. She is also a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She holds a PhD in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Scott-Clayton has led CCRC projects relating to the accuracy of remedial placement exams and the use of high school achievement data to improve the placement process; the impacts of assignment to remediation on subsequent coursetaking, grades, and degree completion; the cost of running a placement exam system; and the importance of structured pathways for community college student success. In addition, Scott-Clayton is a nationally recognized expert on financial aid policy and research.
For the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment (CAPSEE), Scott-Clayton led projects examining the impact of financial aid for community college students, the national impact of the Federal Work-Study program, and the labor market returns to postsecondary education.
Scott-Clayton served as a monthly contributor to The New York Times Economix blog and has appeared on CNN, NPR, and PBS. Her research has been cited in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and she has testified before the U.S. Senate regarding the impact of financial aid and the need to simplify the federal student aid system.
