As the third in a series of reports describing first-time students in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), this report provides data on demographic, socioeconomic, and academic characteristics, and on student goals. In addition, 1975-76 student data are compared to 1973-74 and 1974-75 data and American Council on Education norms for two- and four-year public college freshmen nationwide. VCCS student data were collected from over 78,000 students. Several slight but stable trends toward changing characteristics were found: between 1973-74 and 1975-76 the proportion of females increased from 47 to 50%; the black student proportion increased 2% over the three years to 14%, apparent in all study programs; the median age in 1975-76 was 24.64 years, 2.94 years higher than in 1973-74; single students in all categories were decreasing, although they constituted the plurality in every group except unclassified; and 7% fewer 1975-76 students planned to earn bachelor's degrees or beyond than in 1973-74, while 9% more indicated no degree aspirations. Although the VCCS was attracting more non-traditional students, educational choices continued to be greatly influenced by parents' socioeconomic backgrounds. The VCCS was serving increasing numbers of older, married, veteran, and part-time students in contrast to two- and four-year public colleges nationwide. (TR)