A comparison of the motivational orientations of adult and vocational education graduates was made to determine the motivation for nontraditional students' participation in the off-campus credit programs leading to a master's degree at Marshall University (West Virginia). The population for this study consisted of all 319 vocational-technical education (VTE) master's degree recipients and all 68 adult education (AE) master's degree recipients who participated in off-campus degree programs at the university. Data were collected through a mailed survey that used a Likert-like scale to rank six factors: social contact, social stimulation, professional advancement, community service, external expectations, and cognitive interest as motivators. A total of 175 usable responses (55 percent) was received from the VTE graduates and 38 responses (56 percent) from the AE graduates after initial mailing and follow-up. Most respondents were women and more than 90 percent were white. The study showed that both groups indicated that the factor "professional advancement" was the greatest motivator for them to enroll in adult and vocational education courses, with cognitive interest the next most important factor. Recommendations were made to attract more nonwhite students into the program, to improve social contact between participants and professors, to develop courses with a high degree of intellectual stimulation, and to be aware of the importance of professional advancement to program participants. (Contains 10 references.) (KC)