Lexington County college applicants may face a new admissions hurdle.

The College Board has stirred a storm of criticism with plans to assign an adversity score to those who take the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college admissions.

This is supposed to capture their social and economic background, jumping into the debate over race and class in admissions.

Critics call it political liberalism run amuck.

The new number, called an adversity score by college admissions officers, is calculated using 15 factors.

They include crime and poverty in a student’s high school and neighborhood.

Students won’t be told their scores but colleges will in reviewing their applications, the Wall Street Journal reported.

50 colleges used the score last year in a beta test. The board plans to expand it to 150 colleges this fall.

How colleges weigh race and class in admissions decisions is hotly contested.

For example, Harvard University says student diversity is part of its mission.

A lawsuit accusing Harvard of discriminating against Asian-Americans by holding them to a higher standard is awaiting a judge’s ruling.

Lawsuits charging unfair admissions have been filed against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of California system.

Similar lawsuits have not been reported in SC.

The board has worried about income inequality influencing test results.

White students scored an average 177 points higher than blacks and 133 points higher than Hispanics.

Asian students scored 100 points higher than whites.

Children of wealthy, college-educated parents outperformed others.

Federal prosecutors revealed this year that students cheated on the SAT and ACT for years in a college cheating scheme.

An adversity score of 50 is average. Scores above it mean hardship, below it means privilege.