The purpose of this study was to explore the regulatory styles, as identified in Ryan and Deci's Self-Determination Theory, of graduate students enrolled in prescribed and elective courses, in a fully online Master of Education degree program. A sample consisting of 53 participants, enrolled in a master's degree program in education at a state university in the northeastern region of the United States of America, were invited to participate in an online survey. The survey included demographic questions and an adapted version of the Learning Self-Regulatory Questionnaire. The results of a paired-samples t tests revealed a significant difference between students enrolled in prescribed and elective courses. The mean of the controlled behavior subscale was higher than the mean for the autonomous subscale for those students enrolled in prescribed courses. One-tailed, independent t-tests revealed a significant difference for those students enrolled in elective courses, therefore, H2[subscript 0] was rejected. While the researcher was not able to reject the H3 null hypothesis, the findings showed that the mean of the autonomous behavior subscale were higher than the mean of the controlled behavior subscale for students enrolled in elective courses. Implications of the findings and recommendations for further research are discussed herein. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]