DBA: ROI and motivation?

[sacredrain]

Don't count on finding a full time professor position in today's world. They're hard to come by and pretty rare.

I plan on beginning my DBA next year. For me, it's a personal thing. It's not for my career. I want it because I want it. I was the first person in my family to go to college. I have had a few cousins since go to college. One has a master's. But that's it. I'll finish my second master's in the spring and then onto my doctorate. I just want it. I LOVE research so I'm interested in that aspect. Not super thrilled about taking multiple doctoral level stats classes, but that's part of the program.

This is not entirely true. There are plenty of small private colleges and universities that are hiring full time professors. It depends where one looks.Another option is to work in higher education administration.

Where? And are these tenured/visiting/associate roles? What's the salary range? Academia even at small colleges is insanely competitive. There are so many negative variables here versus the positive ROI.

I know people with T20 PhDs who can't find jobs beyond the adjunct or associate role making pennies. I'd be extremely surprised if an online doctorate would beat them out.

Here in NC there are many small universities offering full time faculty positions. Most are not tenured but full time. The salaries can be quite low around 70k usd to 80k usd to start. Usually at such locations, faculty are not pressured to do research. It really depends on the doctorate subject and the candidate when it comes to any type of faculty position. I serve on several hiring committees and usually we look for a combination of experience, education, personality, teaching methods, and references. So simply having a doctorate is not the only factor.

I have seen these sorts of positions, wouldn't a MBA suffice?  Many business schools have MBAs teaching. The question is ROI for a DBA

Usually these types of positions want a doctorate degree. I have only seen an MBA offered a full time instructor's position if the person has an MBA and certifications in hard to fill areas such as Finance, Accounting, or Economics. At the university where I currently work, we have a few master level full time instructors who are not tentured (despite offering tenure to doctorate holders), who have to go through the contract renewal process each year. These instructors are either working in the computer science department or in the areas I mentioned earlier. 

It is hard to say what a DBA ROI would be for you as its going to depend on your location, your experience, and what subject the DBA is in. I would suggest trying to land a few adjunct positions with your masters degree, this way your foot is in the door with a university or college and applying later if a position comes up that requires a doctorate degree. Another option is to look at full time online faculty positions. Universities such as WGU and Walden for example, all have full time instructors/professors.