ABSTRACT
The acquisition and transmission of transnational competences in general, and student exchanges in particular, are usually managed by institutions that specialize in brokering these competences. These institutions are the focus of this chapter. Then, the chapter moves its focus from the demand side of parents and children to the supply side of providers who specialize in the transmitting of transnational competencies directly or as a 'broker'. Over the course of more than 60 years, a field of organizations specializing in placing German students at schools and boarding schools abroad has emerged in Germany, and this field has a specific structure and its own illusio. In the context of the expansion phase from the 1980s onwards, a process of diversification has also taken place within the field, meaning that the chapter currently distinguishes between various different segments, which correspond to some extent with the different socio-structural groups that demand the services offered by each segment.
