Business school is a serious investment of time and money.

It makes sense to choose a business school based on what will help lead you to the highest salary once you graduate with an MBA.

With that in mind, online lender SoFi looked at the average salary graduates of American business schools  earn and ranked the top 20.

SoFi's approach is unique. It reviewed the self-reported income on over 60,000 student-loan refinancing forms from January 2014 to December 2017.

The average salary for graduates of all business schools SoFi reviewed was $109,992. The University of Pennsylvania took the top spot, beating out Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford business schools. Wharton graduates earn an average salary of $224,034, according to SoFi's data.

Below are the top 20 business schools where graduates earn the most money, ranked from lowest to highest salary.

20. University of Texas at Austin -- $139,776

19. University of Southern California -- $141,082

19. University of Southern California -; $141,082Via Wikimedia Commons

18. Georgetown University -- $142,667

18. Georgetown University -; $142,667

Georgetown University.

 Wikimedia Commons

17. University of Pittsburgh -- $149,157

17. University of Pittsburgh -; $149,157University of Pittsburgh/Facebook

16. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor -- $153,147

16. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor -; $153,147Flickr/fordschool

15. University of California, Los Angeles -- $153,763

15. University of California, Los Angeles -; $153,763Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

14. Duke University -- $154,601

14. Duke University -; $154,601Duke University/Facebook

13. University of Virginia -- $154,902

13. University of Virginia -; $154,902Facebook/University of Virginia

12. Yale University -- $158,170

12. Yale University -; $158,170AP File Photo/Bob Child

11. New York University -- $165,030

11. New York University -; $165,030Facebook/NYU

10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- $165,666

10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology -; $165,666 Via Flickr

9. University of Chicago -- $166,215

9. University of Chicago -; $166,215Jean Lachat

8. Cornell University -- $167,544

8. Cornell University -; $167,544upsand/Flickr

7. Northwestern University -- $167,770

7. Northwestern University -; $167,770Wikimedia Commons

6. Dartmouth College -- $169,498

6. Dartmouth College -; $169,498Dartmouth/Facebook

5. University of California, Berkeley -- $171,270

5. University of California, Berkeley -; $171,270Eric Risberg/AP

4. Harvard University -- $184,463

4. Harvard University -; $184,463Harvard University/Facebook

3. Stanford University -- $186,534

3. Stanford University -; $186,534

Cyclists traverse the main quad on Stanford University's campus in Stanford California

 Thomson Reuters

2. Columbia University -- $189,295

2. Columbia University -; $189,295

Students walk across the campus of Columbia University in New York

Thomson Reuters

1. University of Pennsylvania -- $224,034

1. University of Pennsylvania -; $224,034Via Wikimedia Commons

This post originally appeared on Business Insider.

Published on: Mar 2, 2018