Student exchange has been enriching the lives of students by giving them a unique experience of studying in another country, but not only that. If you consider that an individual decides to leave his home country for a certain period, it means he is adjusting to another culture, is learning about the values of the host country, and is improving the knowledge of a foreign language. More than just passing exams in another language, student exchange is a whole process of maturing as a person, accepting and learning about other nationalities, creating friendships for life, but also preparing for an upcoming entering the labour market. For all the benefits that a student exchange brings to a person, it will be represented in detail. However, the focus is on the motives that drive students to go on a student exchange. Accordingly, motivation and motives which made students to go on a student exchange will be corroborated. The goal of the research was to find out if the motives were related more to the personal or the professional development of an individual. Therefore, the importance of personal and professional development will be depicted, as well as the significance of a career which comes after the graduation. Empirical research in the second part of the thesis has been carried out via questionnaire to determine the motives. The results have shown that students are led more by motives related to personal development. Since a student exchange is a support to education system, students should be led by professional motives. It is obvious there should be some improvements or changes made so the professional motives would get the same attention.