The article considers the problem of increasing the level of students’ motivation to study in higher educational institutions based on the use of the basic provisions of the theory of the motivational complex. The author gives a detailed description of the structure of the motivational complex of successful and low-performing students and analyzes the influence of basic motives on the educational behavior of respondents. A forecast of changes in students’ educational behavior is presented in the absence of correction of the management system of their motivation in the near future. An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of such a tool for motivating students’ educational behavior as a point-rating system used in Russian higher educational institutions is conducted. An analysis of the results of the forecast of the dynamics of the educational behavior of low-performing students allowed the author to make several practical proposals for improving the student rating system aimed at increasing their motivation to obtain professional knowledge, skills, and competencies. The main ones are the need to introduce an additional regression component in the formation of the final rating of the student and the refusal to give scores for attending classes. The implementation of these and other proposals, in the author’s opinion, will contribute to increasing the level of involvement of persons receiving higher education in the educational process and the growth of professional competence of graduates of Russian higher educational institutions.