Aug. 11, 2009 — For the fourth consecutive time, Forbes magazine has ranked the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business among the top 10 graduate business schools in the United States. In the newly released "2009 Best Business Schools" issue, Forbes placed the Darden School in the ninth position.

Forbes bases its rankings on return on investment. The publication gathers data from MBA graduates from 103 schools. Data include pre-MBA salary, cost of tuition and fees, foregone compensation, and salary during the first five years after graduation.

Darden has been in the Forbes top 10 in five of the publication's six polls since 1999.

"Our strategy is driven by our values and our mission," said Robert Carraway, Darden's associate dean for MBA programs. "We don't manage to the rankings. But that being said, it is always gratifying to be recognized as one of the top MBA programs."

Forbes ranked the top 75 MBA programs in the United States along with the top non-U.S. programs. Forbes' top 20 domestic programs are:

1. Stanford University
2. Dartmouth University (Tuck School of Business)
3. Harvard University
4. University of Chicago (Booth School of Business)
5. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School)
6. Columbia University
7. Cornell University (Johnson School)
8. Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management)
9. University of Virginia (Darden School of Business)
10. Yale University
11. University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business)
12. University of California at Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
13. Duke University (Fuqua School of Business)
14. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan School of Management)
15. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler Business School)
16. Brigham Young University (Marriott School of Management)
17. New York University (Stern School of Business)
18. University of Michigan (Ross School of Business)
19. University of California at Los Angeles (Anderson School of Management)
20. University of Iowa (Tippie College of Business)

For information, contact communication@darden.virginia.edu.