The University of Massachusetts Amherst has reserved a decision it announced last week banning Iranian students from science and engineering programs following heavy criticism. "Based on what we learned from the State Department officials and outside legal counsel, we decided to step back from the policy we had previously announced," said UMass Amherst spokesman Daniel Fitzgibbons.
The university says it will offer individualized science and engineering study plans for Iranian students. Fitzgibbons says the university adopted the policy to ensure Iranian students were not breaking federal sanctions.
“This was an attempt to clarify on the part of the university exactly how they could proceed with their studies and then also to make sure that students were not coming into prohibited fields,” said Fitzgibbons.
Congress enacted legislation in 2012 denying visas for Iranian citizens to study in the U.S. if they plan to take coursework for a career in the energy or nuclear fields in Iran.