The University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed to allow students having completed a four-year undergraduate (UG) program, including a research component with a CGPA of 7.5 and above, to directly enroll in PhD programs without a master’s degree as a mandate.

The UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of PhD degree) Regulations 2022 are likely to be announced by end of June and set to come into effect from the forthcoming 2022-23 academic session.

It is worth noting that according to the National Education Policy 2020, it has been recommended to abolish M Phil. Along with this, it has been announced to start 4-year undergraduate course. Keeping these provisions in mind, UGC has changed the rules of PhD.

Giving a boost to FYUP introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP), the regulations state that "a candidate seeking admission after a 4-year/8 semester Bachelor's degree should have a minimum CGPA of 7.5/10."

Also, UGC offering a relaxation of 0.5 CGPA score on a scale of 10 for candidates from SC/ST/OBC/ differently-abled as well as economically weaker sections.

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Speaking to the media, UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said, "Encouraging four-year undergraduate students with research bent of mind to do PhD is important to improve the research ecosystem in our HEIs. That is why we are permitting four-year UG students who have a CGPA of 7.5/10 or above to be eligible for PhD admission.”

He added, “Those who have a CGPA less than 7.5, will have to do a one-year Master's degree to be eligible," said UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar.

Accordingly, If the total vacant seats are filled by the candidates qualifying in the national level entrance tests (conducted by UGC, CSIR, ICMR, ICAR, etc), the selection of such candidates will be based on a merit list with 100% weightage from interview/viva conducted by the higher education institution.