During Monroe's presidency, an ex-President of the United States undertook a task in his home state which he had patiently waited to perform. In 1819, the Virginia legislature passed an act establishing a state university in Virginia. Jefferson had worked very hard to get this personal ambition of his realized because he believed that a state has the obligation of educating its citizens. He constantly discussed his idea with influential men of the time and was elated when the University of Virginia was finally created by law. Jefferson personally recommended the accepted site of Central College in Charlottesville, drew up the plans for the university building and grounds, chose the materials for construction, selected the workmen and then assumed the responsibility of personally supervising and directing the actual building project. One of the outstanding architectural characteristics of the University grounds is the famous Serpentine Wall designed and built by Jefferson himself. Jefferson's interest did not cease with the supervision and construction of the buildings but extended to the intellectual area with his outlining the course of study which was followed carefully at the University for several years. The University of Virginia was opened for students for the first time in 1825 with an enrollment of forty students and seven faculty members. It has continued to be an outstanding institution for higher education in the United States. This institution, unlike the former ones in America, was independent of a church and was the first institution to offer the elective system of subject matter, allowing students to make their choice with music and liberal arts first included in any curriculum of higher education. Jefferson thus participated significantly in the education field in addition to making political, historical and inventive contributions.