US President Donald Trump’s government has dropped its plans to deport international students whose courses move fully online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U-turn comes just one week after the policy announcement.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University sued the government over the plan.

District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts says the parties have come to a settlement, BBC reported.

The agreement reinstates a policy implemented in March, amid the virus outbreak, which allows international students to attend their classes virtually if necessary and remain legally in the country on student visas, according to the New York Times.

Large numbers of foreign students travel to the US to study every year and are a significant source of revenue for universities.

Harvard announced recently that, because of concerns over the virus’s spread, course instruction would be delivered online when students return for the new academic year. MIT, like a number of other educational institutions, said it would also continue to use virtual tuition.

What had the policy said?

Foreign students were told last week that they would not be allowed to stay in the US this autumn unless they switched to a course with in-person tuition.

Those who had returned to their home countries when term ended in March – as the coronavirus crisis grew – were told they would not be permitted to return if their classes had since moved online.