Northeastern University of Boston hopes to offer a doctorate in education and eight master's-level programs tied largely to the region's financial center if it is licensed to expand into uptown Charlotte early next year.

After an 18-month study, the school announced in May it had chosen uptown Charlotte to make its first physical expansion outside of Massachusetts.

It declined then to release information about the nine graduate programs, but disclosed details this week after a request by the Observer.

In addition to the doctorate program, the offerings would include an MBA degree and master of science degrees in finance, taxation, project management, sports leadership, leadership, education and health informatics.

The doctorate will be among the few in the country delivered online and in the classroom by a "nationally recognized, top-ranked university," said Cheryl Richards, Northeastern's dean and chief executive in Charlotte.

The school, Richards said, hopes to hear in October about the licensing from the UNC Board of Governors, the state's higher education licensing authority. If successful, it would start graduate programs in January.

The school must be optimistic: It has hired Richards away from Central Piedmont Community College and renovations are underway for its new uptown campus.

Northeastern couldn't have picked a more central site in Charlotte: 14,000 square feet on two floors in the 20-story 101 Independence Center at Trade and Tryon streets.

It will have street-level presence, taking some of the first floor.

The school would depend heavily on drawing uptown working professionals.

"The campus in Boston is urban, right in the heart of the city where it can stay in touch with the growing needs of the business community," Richards said. "For us, it's really important to be at the center of Charlotte's growth."

In its expansion study, Northeastern found that Charlotte falls short when it comes to graduate degrees.

The study found that 22 percent of Charlotte's residents have bachelor's degrees, on par with Atlanta, Boston and Dallas. But it falls significantly short on graduate degrees, with 10 percent of Charlotte residents having master's or doctorate degrees, compared to 15 percent to 20 percent in the other cities.

The move by Northeastern would be the latest higher education offerings based uptown. Others include Johnson & Wales University in Gateway Village; UNC Charlotte's new Center City Building in First Ward; Johnson C. Smith University; Queens University of Charlotte; and Wake Forest University.

The business community is eager for more graduate degree programs in Charlotte. Leaders say a better-skilled workforce would give the region an edge in attracting new businesses.

In May, Northeastern said it wouldn't offer programs that competed with existing programs.

Its education doctorate would focus on curriculum leadership, higher education administration, educational leadership and organizational leadership and communication.

Its MBA program would focus on finance, healthcare management, high technology management, innovation entrepreneurship, international management, marketing and operations and supply chain.

UNCC offers a doctorate in educational leadership and it and other Charlotte-region schools offer MBAs, such as Queens, along with other business and finance related masters degrees.

Richards said some of Northeastern's offerings would be unique in content, but also in the way they are delivered. Several will be offered online, or, as in the case of the education doctorate, a combination of online and classroom instruction.

"It is fairly unique for a top-tier private nonprofit research university to offer this level of customized delivery that allows working professionals to obtain a graduate degree without putting a career on hold to return to school full time," Richards said.

"We want to be a good partner with all the universities in Charlotte. We want to be a complement. ... Together, we all raise the city's intellectual capital."