Have any studies been done of students' motives for being students at universities?

At one extreme there are those who want to study at a university in disregard of the disapproval of their parents and friends and everyone else. At an opposite extreme are those who are there only because of the expectations of others. And there are those who regard study at a university only as a price of a job they hope to get later.

Do any hard data exist on the proportions in each of these groups or on whether some other motivations exist?