Introduction. The article considers some motivation factors related to pursue a graduate course. The authors analysed aspects related to learning, better economic and work conditions, better job opportunities, alternatives to grow professionally, among other elements. Our purpose was to develop and validate a motivation scale to pursue higher education studies. Material and Methods. Self-administered questionnaires answered by senior students of undergraduate programs in our city Medellin (Colombia) and exploratory factor analyses were employed. The methodological basis of the study is the processing and analysis of interview materials and student surveys. Results. In the first exploratory factor analysis (n = 315 registers), three of four factors were retained (eigenvalue equal or greater than 1.0): Economics, Employment and educational competitiveness, and Institutional promotion and support. The factor solution explained 62.62 % of the total variance. The second exploratory factor analysis (n = 316 registers) confirmed the extraction of the same factors with 64.041 % of the total variance explained by them. Discussion and Conclusion. An individual's motivations depend not only on economic aspects or the work of higher education institutions but also on subjective elements associated with individual, social and cultural variables. For that reason, the motivation scale developed in our research will enable directors of institutions and universities that offer graduate programs to direct their promotional and advertising efforts to reach a greater number of people considering their expectations and needs.