This manuscript stems from observations the authors made while teaching an environmental health course, which is part of a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. Observations of student attitudes and patterns in course feedback prompted questions about how to pique interest in the course content. There has been considerable research attention given to the role of motivation in student learning and performance outcomes. How student motivation is generated, sustained, and impacted by educational curricula has inspired the development and revision of different theoretical models designed to explain these relationships. But the literature on adult professional learner motivation is less robust, which is important because adult learners enter classroom settings with academic and experiential knowledge. All of the existing theories of learning motivation build upon the assumed premise that students perceive the subject matter in a certain way. For adult, professional degree-seeking students in any field, however, the motivation to learn is contingent upon their preexisting conceptions of the course material--its value, relevance, and application to future career goals. Therefore, better understanding of this basis for learning in adults is important. We explore the ways in which entering MPH students conceive of one component of public health education in order to structure the course to maximize student motivation. The implications of our findings for educators in other professions are discussed