This study aimed to identify whether motivation to learn has a statistically significant effect on intergenerational educational mobility among Brazilian university students. Although qualitative studies have proposed the existence of this relationship, quantitative evidence still needs to be discovered. We sought to identify the characteristics that might be fostered to enable students to complete primary education and pursue higher education. To answer the research question, we used data from a sample of 1,031 individuals collected via a structured questionnaire and estimated an ordered logistic regression model with intergenerational educational mobility as the dependent variable and motivation as the key independent variable. The results showed that more motivated individuals were more likely to be educationally upwardly mobile in relation to their parents. However, such cases were more likely to occur when there was low mobility, with the father or mother having completed high school. This study's findings would help public policymakers seeking to promote intergenerational educational mobility and reduce inequality. The results suggest motivation can be fostered and developed in children and adolescents, and the mechanisms for doing so, be they extrinsic or even intrinsic, need to be considered.