One issue that none of the articles are touching on is that the College Board cannot keep this “adversity score” secret from consumers, which they seem to be trying to do.
Under the Fair Credit Report Act, consumers have the right to see such information and scores about themselves. It is not just limited to credit reports. Many other databases that track and score consumers have been ruled by the courts that they have to provide this information to consumers upon request.
Such things as your insurance report (CLUE), your ChexSystems files (bank overdraft history), LexisNexis (multiple database products), etc. All of these companies have to provide copies to consumers about what they track and sell to 3rd parties. They also need to provide a dispute process to challenge and delete information disputed by the consumer.
I have no doubt at all that the College Board will likely be sued by someone for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The College Board will be ordered by a Federal Court to provide a full report to a student about what they have on that student and provide a process to dispute and change that data if the student believes it is inaccurate.
Once the College Board realizes this, they will likely kill the idea unless they are prepared to start an entire customer service division and 1-800 number and call center to handle all of the requests.