Higher professional education in Russia due to the influence of the Bologna process today is designed to solve new challenges associated with increasing the level of intellectual development of students, the growth of their cognitive activity, the ability to self-acquisition of knowledge throughout life. Modern conditions are marked by a change of requirements for organizational moments and qualitative changes in the preparation of university students in relation to their cognitive, motivational, social and psychological development. The question of the formation of personal maturity of the student is an important factor of professional success. Educational motivation acts as a personality-forming system and is associated with the development of personal identity, social self-determination in the system of social relations. This study focuses on the problems of analysis of the key motives that determine the attitude of students to learning activities at the university. The purpose of this article is identification and analysis of motivation as educational activity of students in high school (on the example of educational activity of students of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, and students of the Surgut State Pedagogical University. Our objectives: to test the effectiveness of the diagnostic complex of questionnaires and methods to evaluate educational and professional motivation of students at higher educational institutions; to analyze the results. Analysis of the existing methods for the study of students' motivation showed that most of them are aimed at the diagnosis of individual motives of professional activity. To conduct the study we chose the methods of differential and diagnostic questionnaire (according to E.A. Klimov's classification), the questionnaire of C.G. Jung, the technique of T.I. Ilyina, “Motivation of training in high school” (with scaling “acquisition of knowledge”, “mastery in the profession”, “diploma”), the technique by K. Zamfir in modification by A. Rean “Motivation of professional activity”. The results of the study can be used in the work of lecturers and tutors at higher educational institutions, who face low motivation of students to study. The data obtained allow us to implement a targeted differentiated approach to students.