Washington, D.C. ? Families of victims in the Virginia Tech massacre will receive larger payments and benefits than originally envisioned under a final plan for distributing more than $7 million in contributions.

The plan announced Wednesday has been approved by university administrators and was developed by consultant Kenneth Feinberg, who administered the government’s victim compensation fund after the Sept. 11 attacks. It calls for payments of $180,000 to families of each of the 32 people killed in the April shootings. The initial plan called for payments of $150,000.

The new plan is more generous in allowing surviving victims to continue their education tuition-free – a gesture Feinberg said many families thought should have been made earlier.