On July 18, 1961, the parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia decided to build Ruhr University in Bochum, the first new university founded in the Federal Republic. A festive opening ceremony was held on June 30, 1965, and teaching began on November 2 later that year. To improve educational opportunities in North Rhine-Westphalia, other universities were established quickly: in 1965, the Medical Academy in Düsseldorf was elevated to the rank of university, and new universities were founded in Dortmund and Bielefeld in 1968–69. In 1972, comprehensive colleges were founded in Duisburg, Essen, Paderborn, Siegen, and Wuppertal. Until 1972, costs for university construction projects ran as high as 1.4 billion DM.