A judge has approved an $US11 million ($A11.71 million) settlement with most of the families of victims in last year's Virginia Tech slayings.
Circuit Court Judge Theodore J Markow approved the settlement today.
It is expected to help avoid a court battle over whether anyone but the gunman, South Korea native Seung-Hui Cho, was to blame for the 32 deaths.
The settlement will pay 24 families. The settlement also covers 18 people who were injured, but their cases did not require court approval.
Cho killed two students in a dormitory and another 25 students and five faculty members in a classroom building before killing himself.