The rationale for pupil personnel services includes the following: (1) universal education as an ideal is an American phenomenon, (2) trends relevant today are toward personal worth and development, (3) basic factors such as advanced technology and automation, recent gains in knowledge, holding power of schools, and the widening range of pupil characteristics, require special personal service; and (4) mass education requires the identification of its components into a balanced and coordinated enterprise, including the merging of resources into a manageable and understandable unit of pupil personnel services for all students. Dynamic and knowledgeable leadership and administration are essential for the development and maintenance of a pupil personnel services program. The uniqueness of the pupil personnel coordination is examined. There are eight urgent contemporary issues listed, including state support, crisis-oriented programs, and core preparation that must be resolved before any rationale of pupil personnel services can be of consequence. (Author/KJ)