ISSN 2636-915X, e-ISSN 0128-2611 © 2019 Global Academy of Training & Research (GATR) Enterprise. All rights reserved. Accounting and Finance Review Journal homepage: www.gatrenterprise.com/GATRJournals/afr_issues.html Acc. Fin. Review 4 (3) 79 – 86 (2019) The Effect of Motivation on the Interest of Accounting Students to Follow Accounting Professional Education Irma 1 , Noorina Hartati 2* 1,2 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics, Universitas Terbuka Jalan Cabe Raya, Pondok Cabe, Pamulang, Tangerang Selatan, Banten, Indonesia, 15418 ABSTRACT Objective – This study aims to investigate the motivation and interest of Accounting Students at Economy Faculty of UT to participate in Accounting Professional Education, several motivational factors such as quality, career, economy, degree, and achievement. Accounting Professional Education has been implemented since September 2002, with the commencement of Accounting Professional Education, the title of accountant is no longer the monopoly of certain state universities are given special privileges by the Ministry of National Education. Thus, all Accounting graduates have the same opportunity to get an accountant degree. Opportunities have been widely opened but the problem now is the willingness of every accounting student himself to continue his education at Accounting Professional Education. Methodology/Technique – Using 296 accounting students from Bogor, Bandung, Purwokerto, Batam, Gorontalo UT Regional Offices, we run the form of Structural Equation Model (SEM) to test the accounting students’ motivation to follow Accounting Professional Education. Meanwhile for the measurement model in this study using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) which shows a latent variable measured by one or more observed variables. Findings – The result shows that quality motivation has a significant effect towards the interest of accounting students at undergraduate degree of Accounting Study Program at Universitas Terbuka to follow the Accounting Professional Education. Novelty – This finding implies that the greater the motivation of the quality of students, the greater their interest in taking the Accounting Professional Education. Type of Paper: Empirical Keywords: Accounting Professional Education, Motivation, Interest Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Irma; Hartati, N; 2019. The Effect of Motivation on the Interest of Accounting Students to Follow Accounting Professional Education, Acc. Fin. Review 4 (3): 79 – 86 https://doi.org/10.35609/afr.2019.4.3(3) JEL Classification: A29, M41, M49. _______________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction Universitas Terbuka (UT) is a university that organizes open education and long distance. In 2006 the Open University especially for the Faculty of Economics established Accounting Study Programs, run through the same approach namely open and long distance. ___________________________ * Paper info: Revised: September 22, 2019 Accepted: November 20, 2019 * Corresponding author: Noorina Hartati E-mail: orin@ecampus.ut.ac.id Affiliation: Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics, Universitas Terbuka, Banten, Indonesia