Good morning! It’s Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.

A new court filing in a high-profile lawsuit shows how much of a leg up the children of donors may have in the college admissions process, Zachary Schermele reports. 

Emails and internal records from some of the nation’s most selective universities portray a system fraught with inequities and looser standards for applicants with rich parents. The evidence submitted Monday marks a new phase in a legal battle over allegations that, for years, 17 of the country’s top schools violated antitrust laws by conspiring to reduce financial aid for less affluent students.

Fed cuts interest rates again

The Federal Reserve lowered its key interest rate by another quarter point Wednesday, Paul Davidson reports, but forecast a significantly slower pace of rate cuts next year.

Wednesday's move marked the Fed's third consecutive rate cut and brought its benchmark short-term rate to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

Here's the forecast for interest rates in 2025.

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📰 A great read 📰

We're featuring favorite 2024 stories from our colleagues. Here's one from Felecia Wellington Radel.

Once you notice it, you'll see that it's happening all around us almost everywhere we go.

There's the woman on FaceTime at the next table in the restaurant, the man scrolling Instagram Reels during the elementary school band concert, the employee in a virtual meeting at the pool sitting next to someone reading, the fellow commuters or travelers enjoying some tunes – all on speakerphone.

It hasn't been an immediate change, but slowly, more people in public places are not using headphones and just loudly sharing their digital dalliances with everyone in their immediate social space.

About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.