@Bonedoc63: You don’t seem to understand how costs and financial aid work at top colleges.
First, some context: Carleton is one of the top schools in the country – I don’t think I’ve seen a LAC ranking where they weren’t in the top 10 in the country, and the top one in the midwest.
Regarding cost, here is a list of the most expensive schools in the country – a few years old, but still relevant:
http://campusgrotto.com/most-expensive-colleges
Carleton is 53rd. So more than “a few” are more expensive than them. And scanning the list, that includes about 26 LACs. Sounds like they’re actually a pretty good deal!
Further, just about all schools ranked that high only do need-based aid (i.e., no merit). Looking at the USNews ranking, of the top 18, a handful do a nominal amount of merit aid, the rest zero.
Yes, it’s true that for some good students the cost will be too high; but then that’s true at just about every other school at a similar level. And Carleton, and those other schools, seem to be able to find more than enough kids willing and able to pay that cost. So this model is working for them (and is arguably fairer overall).