Shadow education is a set of educational activities that occur out-side formal schooling and are designed to enhance the student's formal school career. Analyses of data from a longitudinal study of high school seniors in Japan indicate that students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to participate in shadow education and that students who participate in certain forms of shadow education are more likely to attend university. Expanding theories of allocation to incorporate shadow education may enhance the study of how students are allocated to places in formal schooling and how social advantages are transferred across generations.