This report is designed to help college planners and decision-makers examine trends of the past and concerns of the present. Sections 1 through 5 contain information organized according to gender, ethnicity, age, language, previous degrees, and vocational/educational goals. Section 1 contains a profile of students enrolled for the fall 1996 semester. Sections 2 and 3 present five-year and long-term enrollment trends. Section 4 shows five-year weekly student contact hours (WSCH) and WSCH/full-time equivalent trends by discipline and for the college as a whole. Section 5 provides transfer data from 1978 to 1995 and demographic data about the communities served by Pierce College, and assessment trends for the distribution of fall 1997 placements in ENL (English as a Native Language), ESL (English as a Second Language), and mathematics. Grade distributions and comparisons also are given for fall semesters in 1981 and 1996. Section 6 presents job trends and projects the growth or decrease of job availability in L.A. County, with resulting implications for the curriculum. Section 7 examines population trends and projects future enrollment trends. The report points out that since its inception more than fifty years ago, the college has grown in relation to the surrounding San Fernando Valley, and its curriculum continues to be shaped largely in response to the educational goals of those who attend during periods of expansion, both in the city and the school. (AS)