Based on the return on investment in an MBA degree, Forbes magazine has ranked Cornell's Johnson School No. 7 in the nation. The magazine's sixth biennial ranking of business schools was published Aug. 5.

The magazine surveyed 17,000 Class of 2004 alumni at 103 schools; 24 percent replied. Forbes compared earnings in the first five years out of business school to the cost of tuition, fees and two years of uncompensated study. It found that Cornell MBA graduates break even on the cost of their degree after 4.1 years of working.

"Going to a top business school has continued to be a solid investment," Forbes writes. "Graduates of our top 75 schools typically earned their b-school investment back within five years. Financial services jobs led the way, with the median salary five years out of school at $165,000 compared with $125,000 for all other jobs."