The study aims to investigate the level of motivation and entrepreneurial competencies of students using online distance courses in entrepreneurial learning. Based on the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) program, an experimental group of respondents took the course "How to Start Your Own Business" (March-May 2022), and their results were generated and compared with the control sample. After taking a 12-week course to improve entrepreneurial ability among students (in particular, paying attention to the motivational component of the study), one can note significant shifts in the internal positive motivation of experimental group students after taking this course. Thus, their percentage component increased to 43% compared to 25% initially (p = 0.3585). Simultaneously, substantial structural changes were observed in the analysis of students' entrepreneurial abilities, demonstrating improvements across nearly all assessment items. Future research directions should include studying the integration of MOOCs into academic programs and their impact not only on motivation, but also on success and long-term programs examining the impact of MOOC implementation on the post-graduation success of university students.