Nationally accredited doctorate for teaching college classes

That's where I'd put my money. Obtaining a doctorate also is overkill for community college teaching, which is a VERY good way to get college teaching experience.
The question isn't as easy as you ask it. It's more about building a strategy to get INTO teaching and then developing a career. It's going to take education AND experience.

You should follow Steve's advice. One way to research this deeper is to go onto HigherEdJobs.com and start doing searches or creating job agents. Look for what fields have needs. Look for patterns of "priority" teaching jobs. In my field (Culinary Arts), it's easy to find adjunct positions at a community college - no degree is required, so NA/RA isn't even a question.... but MUCH HARDER to find full-time faculty positions at a university where for SURE a degree is required, for sure RA is expected, and certification is recommended. So, you just have to do more homework and see what your industry wants....or find an industry and make them want you.

 

At a small sectarian college, a community college, someplace like that, depending on the field. There are some fields so competitive, such as liberal arts disciplines like history, where your odds of obtaining a TT job are very low even with a doctorate from a state or RA private university. There are other fields like some within business where you have a chance without an RA doctorate. This is not a matter of degrees alone, though, but of doing professorial things, such as presenting papers at conferences, publishing in peer reviewed journals, and collaborating with tenured and tenure track professors on research. You can often do that as a professional, I've collaborated with two professionals on research and we three published a peer reviewed article together; that's not a unique thing, many academics are happy to collaborate with professionals. You do that sort of thing, get known in your field, prove your competence, you have a real shot. You just try to depend on a distance doctorate alone, you have almost no shot.

 

Hello Ann,

There has been some good advice offered on this forum. For community colleges, you would have a better chance as either a full-time or adjunct instructor. If you desire to teach at most universities, you would be at a disadvantage with a masters or NA doctorate as your highest degree. The availability of RA doctorates (including those online) has made the university market even more competitive. Since my institution is in the south, our accredited agency (SACS Commission on Colleges) mandates that at least 25% of undergraduate courses be taught by terminally-degreed faculty. As a result, southern universities tend to look for new faculty with doctorates.