News

"In previous years, Rush earned an F and D minus from the group Progressive Massachusetts, based largely on his opposition to criminal justice reform and legislation backing women’s reproductive rights. Since he was appointed majority whip, his votes have aligned with Senate leadership and he has earned a B minus from the group.

Yu’s supporters aren’t satisfied."

-The Flipside

Sen. Mike Rush of West Roxbury... is facing a challenge from Persis Yu, a progressive-leaning Hyde Park resident who heads a nonprofit aimed at protecting borrowers from predatory lending.

Persis Yu filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of the cities of Albuquerque, N.M., Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, and also includes the nation's two largest teachers unions and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, comes less than a week after the U.S. Department of Education published a rule change to PSLF.

-WBUR

BATTLES BREWING — Last year’s frustration with the Legislature’s messy end of formal session bled into Beacon Hill’s elections. It’s still early, but some of that sentiment could carry over to next year’s contests, too. ... This year, one challenger has already emerged: Persis Yu, the deputy executive director and managing counsel at Protect Borrowers, a nonprofit focused on protecting borrowers from predatory lending.

-Politico

State representative races aren’t until 2026, but state Sen. Mike Rush now has an opponent in Hyde Park’s Persis Yu.

Rush, a conservative Democrat, is the state senator for the Norfolk/Suffolk District seat, and was first elected to the seat in 2010, and has not had an opponent.

-Jamaica Plain News

Yu is running to represent Boston, Dedham, Norwood, Walpole, and Westwood; pledges to fight for a bold vision of a Massachusetts where families—not corporations or billionaires—come first.

Persis Yu, a Hyde Park lawyer active in protecting consumers from rapacious lenders, filed paperwork today to run for the Norfolk and Suffolk state senate seat...

-Universal Hub

Persis appeared as a guest on WBUR’s On Point to discuss how private student lenders will make more money off of students after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“No one is arguing for the status quo,” said Yu. “But until there is a real investment in higher education, both on the federal and state level,” millions of students and their families will continue to rely on federal debt, with now-tightened conditions.”

-Boston Globe

 “Schools are struggling,” says Persis Yu, the Boston-based deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center. What’s striking, she says, is “the willingness of schools to basically sell their own name to these for-profit companies — or nonprofits, at least in name or in tax status.”

-Boston Globe

Persis appeared as a guest with host Paris Alston on WGBH's Rooted to discuss the college debt crisis with other education experts.

On May 5, the Federal Government started referring student loans currently in default for collections. For the more than 5 million borrowers currently in default, that means wage garnishment, or having money taken out of future tax refunds. Persis Yu, Deputy Executive Director and Managing Counsel of the Student Borrower Protection Center, spoke with PBS NewsHour to break down what that means for those borrowers.

Seattle University School of Law Alumni Profile: As one of the nation’s top advocates for student debt relief, Persis Yu ’09 takes a surprisingly hopeful lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic.