The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how online doctoral degree holders (alumni) describe the emotional intelligence traits of emotional self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation to have influenced the persistence of online doctoral program degree completion in the Midwestern United States. The study was grounded in Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence, focusing on three of five emotional intelligence traits: emotional self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation. The researcher asked three questions to delve into the nuanced experiences of the doctoral degree holders. In the first question, participants were asked to describe how emotional self-awareness has influenced their persistence in online doctoral program degree completion in the Midwestern United States. In the second question, participants were asked to describe how self-regulation influenced their persistence. In the third question, participants were asked to describe how motivation influenced their persistence. The target population included members of member-only Facebook pages. The data collected from 42 questionnaires and 15 interviews resulted in nine categories and 12 emergent themes. Four themes aligned with emotional self-awareness, four with self-regulation, and four with motivation. The data demonstrated that emotional intelligence traits of emotional self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation significantly influenced the degree completion of online doctoral students in the Midwestern United States. [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.]