The United States Government has done a U-turn on plans to deport international students from the country.

The new policy would have impacted thousands of foreign students whose courses have moved fully online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 26,000 Canadians studied in the U.S. during the 2018-2019 academic year.

Last week, international students were told that they would not be allowed to stay unless they switched to a course which provided for in-person tuition.

The plans were dropped after The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University sued the U.S. government.

Both Harvard and MIT recently announced that they would be using virtual tuition when they returned for the new academic year.

International students are a significant source of revenue for U.S. universities. An additional 59 other institutions signed a court brief in support of the action.

District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts said that the parties have come to a settlement, according to the New York Times. 

The agreement reinstates a policy implemented in March, which allows international students to attend their classes virtually and remain legally in the country on student visas.