This study investigated what components of background demographics and motivation orientation in learning impact career selection and educational aspirations for adult students participating in a post-secondary institution in West Virginia, one of the Washington, DC, metropolitan areas. The research boundaries set for the area of learning encompassed the career training offered by the participating adult education institution for adults seeking postsecondary education or training and 237 students who were over 18 years old participating in the one-time survey. The study utilized the motivation section of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) as the instrument for assessing the students' motivation orientation in learning with regard to their career choices and educational aspirations. Descriptive statistics, correlations, Chi-Square, ANCOVA, ANOVAs, and Hierarchical Regression were utilized to examine the study data. The results indicated that gender proved to be the most influential background demographic factor in that gender was significant in the three of the four research questions by being consistently significant with regard to career choice and educational aspirations. Male students revealed more participation in the Technological (AT, ET, OCT) or Specialized (CA, HVACR, TD) than Medical Careers (LPN, ST) while female students revealed more participation in Medical Careers than other areas. Other background demographic factors, such as age and education level, were also found to be significant for participants to determine their career choices. Specific to Age, the younger student group (ages 18-20) exhibited more preference for Technological Careers than Medical or Specialized Careers, and the oldest student group (ages 37-70) showed their preferences for Specialized Careers than Medical or Technological Careers. Female students showed higher Educational Aspirations (M = 5.59, SD = 1.41) than did male students (M = 4.78, SD = 1.42). Written comments revealed the top four reasons that male students were interested in choosing their careers were in the order of steady income, related to hobby, to start in job market, and making a difference in life. The top four female participants' reasons were in the order of making a difference in life, steady income, furthering education, and becoming more marketable. After considering all of the effects of the background demographics variables in the study, career choice did not significantly differ in the motivational orientation in learning variables with one exception. The Control Belief about Learning (H02d) showed a difference in the career group, F (2, 216) = 5.17, p less than 0.01. One influential factor for choosing the career from the written responses was self-motivation or a similar response which supports the result of the Control Beliefs about Learning. The Technological Career Group showed a higher average value (M = 23.21, SD = 3.47) on the Control Beliefs about Learning than the other groups, Medical Career Group (M = 22.32, SD = 4.17) and Specialized Career Group (M = 21.56, SD = 5.24). Participants also responded on the question regarding the greatest factor for how they became involved with adult education which was that they applied on their own. This made up two thirds of the responses, indicating that they took ownership of their learning for post secondary education. Although intrinsic goal (r = 0.139, p = 0.023) and task value (r = 0.150, p = 0.016) in motivation orientations in learning variables showed evidence of a positive relationship with educational aspirations, a hierarchical regression analysis indicated that none of the motivation orientation in learning variables had a statistically significant effect on the educational aspirations in the regression model. This may call for further studies with contemporary learning theories such as Self Determination Theory (SDT) in terms of the tenets: Students become intrinsically-motivated through self-regulated behaviors because learning is linked and reinforced by psychological rewards rather than to external rewards. This study contributes to the field of work-related training by providing empirical evidence on what specific human background demographics and motivational orientation in learning factors compel adults to choose their careers and pursue their educational aspirations. The outcomes of this study may enhance adult education institutional policy changes to continually improve the program and benefit students and staff alike. This study can be utilized as a springboard for future similar studies for other adult education institutions in order to provide continuous snapshots of how the programs are functioning. Conducting similar studies in various cultural and social-economic environments will provide an objective view of what background demographics and motivation orientation in learning factors significantly correlate to career choice and educational aspirations for the respective communities. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.