Poor academic motivation is alarming. This study aimed to determine the significance of the model to predict academic motivation with competence, autonomy, and relatedness as predictors. A predictive design was employed, involving 217 college students selected through random sampling. Results showed that the model has weak (19.9%) but significant to predict the criterion. This claim fully supports Self-Determination Theory. Further studies exploring additional variables and indicators are recommended to better understand the remaining 80.1% of variance in academic motivation.