Seeking Doctorate in National Security or Public Policy

[sanantone]

Another option would be to get the cheapest doctorate that is semi-related to the field you want to teach or to get a generic doctorate. You'll rely on your master's degree to qualify for the subject area, and the doctorate will check the box for the doctorate requirement. 

To your point, my goal of starting the thread is to find that "cheapest" RA doctorate. I will be funding my program out of pocket and am definitely working class in terms of pay at the present time. As to teaching based on my masters, my masters is focused on fire department and EMS administration. However, I am looking to move as far away from my current field as possible, and would not be interested in teaching in those disciples any longer. (I've already been a street level practitioner for 20 years and worked as an adjunct instructor and supervisor for 15). 

My goal is to somehow get a full time job with the federal government in the national security arena, get a job with a think tank like RAND, ISW, or get hired full time by a college or university school of public policy or government. As I said, earlier, I also have 16 years of part time experience with the USCG and have interned previously at the state level in the areas of disaster planning and counter-terrorism.

For the federal government, all you'll need is another master's degree. Don't forget that history is also related to this field if your degree focuses on a foreign region.