New socioeconomic SAT score coming amid college admission scandals
On the heels of the biggest college admissions scandal in history, the College Board has announced plans to assign an "adversity score" to every student who takes the SAT in hopes of capturing their social and economic background.
The news, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was beta-tested last year at 50 colleges across the country with plans to expand to 150 institutions this fall. The broad use of the new score is expected in 2021.
The new adversity score, according to the Journal, will be calculated using 15 key factors, including the student's community crime rate and poverty levels.
The only caveat is that students will not be told their scores and only colleges will be able to see the numbers when reviewing their applications.
Additionally, it is unclear how colleges will use the score in making decisions for admissions.
In a statement to FOX News, David Coleman, chief executive of the College Board said it has been focused on finding unseen talent over the years and the new score "enables colleges to "witness the strength of students in a huge swath of America who would otherwise be overlooked."
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For instance, white students on average score 177 higher than black students and 133 higher than Hispanic students in 2018. Asian students typically score 100 points higher than white students.
Anthoney Carnevale, director of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce, said the purpose of the new score is "to get to race without using race."