The article examines the problem of developing the academic motivation of university students through project activities. Academic motivation is considered as a complex of factors that activate the educational and cognitive activity of students and support their desire for self-education and development. The authors studied and analyzed the following types of educational motives of university students: avoidance motives, prestige motives, professional and communicative motives, motives of creative self-realization, educational and cognitive and social motives. According to the authors, project activities are the most effective in developing the academic motivation of university students. Project-based activities are considered as a pedagogical technology, a set of educational and cognitive techniques aimed at solving any pedagogical task or problem through the organization of independent activities of participants in the educational process with the obligatory presentation of the results of this activity. The authors pay special attention to the description of students’ experience of working on the social project “Dream Schoolˮ, with the aim of developing their academic motivation. The article describes the main stages of work on the social project “Dream Schoolˮ, analyzes pedagogical methods for developing the academic motivation of university students, etc. The authors present the results of pedagogical diagnostics of the development of academic motivation of university students. The purpose of the study is to theoretically substantiate and experimentally test the effectiveness of using project activities as a means of developing the academic motivation of university students. Materials and methods. Theoretical analysis of the literature on the research problem, generalization, testing. Research results. The issues of development of educational motivation of university students are considered, the role of project activities in development of educational motivation of university students is theoretically substantiated, its main tasks and stages of organization are analyzed. Conclusion. The results of this study may be useful for theoretical and practical application by teachers of higher and secondary vocational educational institutions dealing with issues of developing students’ academic motivation.