Tassel or No Tassel?

I work at a school that is not Title 1, but is a magnet school that focuses as equally on the arts as it does on the academic subjects. People assume that it is easier to deal with non-Title 1 students because this type of student always turns in assignments, are seldom a discipline problem, and parental involvement tends to be higher. Unfortunately, this assumption is not always true. This past year I witnessed several students that struggled to graduate but in the end, they were successful and were able to graduate. Some of these students were considered at-risk and some were not. My question is the following: What truly motivates a student, whether labeled “at-risk” or not, to be academically successful?