Today, the main problem in higher education is the decrease in students' interest in learning and obtaining new knowledge. This factor reduces the effectiveness of education process. Thus, the problem of formation and preservation of motivation for learning among higher school students becomes relevant. The article offers a solution to the problem by studying the structure of the main motives for learning among freshmen, that are necessary to maintain interest in acquiring knowledge and developing professionally significant qualities. To determine the main motives for learning, the method of reviewing scientific literature and the method of diagnosing students' educational motivation, proposed by A.A. Rean and V.A. Yakunin, were used. The communicative, professional, educational, cognitive, social motives, as well as the motives of creative selfrealization, avoidance of failure and prestige were studied, the levels of motivation and the average score of motivation for educational activities among students were determined. The ranking procedure applied allowed us to determine not only the significance of each motive for students, but to describe a motives’ structure, which allows us to establish the main factors that determine the attitudes of students to learning. Experimental data show that the most valuable and significant learning motive is “to become a highly qualified specialist”. This motive determines the main tasks both for freshmen and their teachers, namely, for students the main motive is to obtain knowledge that they will be able to apply in their further professional activities and for academic staff it is to organize educational environment in which professional competencies will be formed and where the professional formation of future specialists will take place.