The SAT Is Adding An ‘Adversity Score’ To Judge Students On ‘Social And Economic’ Background

The College Board, the company that writes and administers the SAT college entrance exam to thousands of American high schoolers, says it’s revamping its scoring process to include an “adversity score” alongside the SAT’s standardized measurements of verbal and mathematical prowess, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The “adversity score” will take into account the social and economic backgrounds of SAT takers, and will be awarded based on a 15-factor analysis, The Wall Street Journal reports. Students will be judged on “the crime rate and poverty levels of the student’s high school and neighborhood,” the student’s “housing environment,” the student’s parents’ income and education levels, and whether the student had access to higher-level and advanced placement (AP) classes.