The implement of Rural Revitalization Strategy needs to build a complete set of scientific and perfect governance mechanism, the active participation of students provides vitality for the realization of targeted poverty alleviation. With the help of participatory governance theory and qualitative research methods based on literature and experience, this paper tries to explore the endogenous and exogenous motivation of students' participation in targeted poverty alleviation on the basis of analysis of theoretical and practical value, so as to provide theoretical justification for college students' participation in targeted poverty alleviation. Taking the summer poverty alleviation practice of students in School of Shipping and Mechanical Electrical Engineering Taizhou College and School of Public Administration Nanjing Agricultural University as examples, the study concludes that:serious task thinking and inactive; utilitarian tendency of practice, lack of understanding of the content of assistance; transient and unstable participation in assistance; personnel selection process. Non-standardization and the lack of responsibility and ability of Students' volunteers are the main problems facing students' participation in targeted poverty alleviation. We should improve the support mechanism and construct a trinity cooperation model; improve the quality of training, improve the content and form of training; give full play to the main role of college student Party members and cadres; strengthen the mechanism design, expand the quality of practical ability; identify service resources, understand the needs of the support objects and build a practical platform, enrich innovation content.