The natural symbiotic relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic factors and how they contribute to student success is undeniable. A plethora of work including self-determination, attribution, and social cognitive theories speak about academic achievement by students having a reciprocity relationship between the extrinsic factors that underline or accentuate intrinsic motivating factors that in turn re-enforce extrinsic factors such as familiar and societal pressures upon the student. This study examines to what extent motivating factors, including but not limited to, self-efficacy, attribution, and self-regulated goal setting have contributed to the pursuit of higher education in Saudi Arabia by traditionally underrepresented students. The recorded data was collected using mixed-method design combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. Closed-ended surveys and interviews conducted in social and traditional sensitive manners were conducted by a controlled group of research assistants at one learning institution on an advanced group of postgraduate students at another institution to gauge and identify the motivational factors that influence tendencies towards postgraduate studies. The initial pilot of the research consisted of thirty master's degree students and five doctoral students. The research results and their review have shown the strong symbiotic relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors.