@MinnesotaDadof3 We did not find Carleton’s aid to be this high for a $120K - $160K family a few years ago. In any case, the OP says in their initial post that they do not think they will be eligible for much FA. So I suppose if the OP is mistaken about whether they’d get need based aid, then Carleton might be a fit. If there is a chance for FA, the OP should run the net price calculator everywhere. But I’m taking their post at face value that they’ve already looked at this with meets need colleges, and determined that the calculators aren’t providing the COA they are looking for.
If her grad school is the type she probably will have to pay for (law, MBA, masters program without PhD), then this makes sense. If she is going into a field where a PhD is really optimal, then she will get paid to go to grad school and complete her PhD (they actually waive the tuition during the years when they are taking classes for the masters portion of the PhD program, and pay a stipend for TAing and eventually researching). So any PhD program worth completing should fund her experience and she shouldn’t need additional loans if that is her path.