Kara Robison talks with John Snyder, an associate director of Slippery Rock University's Office of Career Services, about teacher certification testing she recently took. Both SRU and Butler County Community College offer services to help undecided students select a career path.

As thousands of high school graduates of the Class of 2007 celebrate completing one of life's great hurdles, they face a new question: What now?

While many studies show more than half of these graduates will choose college as their destination, a large portion of college-bound young adults are unsure what career path to follow once they get there.

In an effort to help ease student anxiety about future plans, faculty and administrators at both Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College have developed programs to direct students to a major that will hold their interest.

"For students we have several services: personal counseling, Web sites, different types of assessment tests," said Mary McGinnis, a career and academic counselor at BC3.

Of the services offered, McGinnis believes individual sessions with counselors are most beneficial to students. In these sessions, students are encouraged to match their skills and interests with a related profession.

Fact sheets and other materials are available for different job salaries, growth and availability.

However, because many students at BC3 plan to transfer to a four-year school after receiving their associate degree, the community college overall is about exploring careers, McGinnis said.

"General studies has the most folks here," she said. "Some might not have a major but take general classes to figure it out before transferring."

Similarly, SRU offers a wide range of career services for students.

"Many of our freshmen coming in are still trying to figure out what they want to do," said Dorene Powell, a graduate assistant in career services at SRU.

"They are encouraged to come in for one-on-one sessions. Each student is really an individual case because they each bring a unique background."

She also said while the conversations are sometimes enough for students to begin a preliminary career path, others need to use assessment tests to analyze their interests, abilities and values.

For this purpose, both BC3 and SRU have bought the Web-based program Discover, which students can use to explore occupations, majors, transfer programs, salaries and job growth.

Regarding free Web sites that students can use outside of the school, Powell recommends www.educationplanner.org.

"It's a fabulous site for students coming through or just finishing high school," she said.

In addition to picking a major, the site explores the financial aspects of college by offering advice and resources for getting scholarships and loans.

SRU also offers a "major" for students who are undecided and are still in the exploratory stages of career development. The program allows them to work with an adviser to develop a program of study suited to their interests and needs.

But career service programs are not the only resources available to students attempting to define their career path. Many times the most valuable resource is talking to people the students already know, Powell said.

"Overall, for students, Iwould say one of the best places to start is with people they know," she said.

"Having conversations with people in different fields and finding out what career paths they took and why is very helpful."

Powell also encourages students to get involved with volunteering, job shadowing and part-time work. These kinds of activities will give people a clue as to what they want to do or don't want to do.

Here are the top 10 college majors, according to the Princeton Review from colleges across the United States:1. Business administration and management2. Psychology3. Elementary education4. Biology5. Nursing6. Education7. English8. Communications9. Computer science10. Political science