In addition to the traditional Ph.D. program, many universities offer a Direct Ph.D. program as well, which allows highly qualified applicants, generally with a bachelor’s degree CGPA of 8.0 equivalent or better, to be admitted directly into the Ph.D. program without a master’s degree. The direct Ph.D. program has the same coursework requirements as the MS plus Ph.D. route. Some universities offer master’s degrees as well to the direct PhD students however, some universities do not ask students to write a master’s thesis and do not offer an M.S. degree to the direct PhD students.