Scott Carrell is a senior fellow at the Civitas Institute. He is also a professor and associate dean in the School of Civic Leadership at UT Austin. In addition, he also holds an appointment in the Department of Economics, where teaches and writes on public and labor economics. His early work focused on ways to improve military retention through local labor market forces, while his recent work specializes in the economics of education.

He previously served as an Air Force lieutenant colonel and as the senior economist for public finance and labor economics on the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President. Carrell also serves as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor, and a co-faculty director of the California Education Lab. He is the author of many articles in peer-reviewed journals. He received his B.A. from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an M.A. in economics and an M.S. in management from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Florida.