By ABC-7 Reporter Maria Garcia

EL PASO -- It was a hard road to the Sun City for Dr. Yu Liu, a new professor at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

Liu applied at 30 universities across the country and the answer was always the same. "They just said, 'Sorry, we don't have the budget anymore,'" Liu said.

Her luck changed when she looked toward the Lone Star State. "Texas has been less affected by the economic downturn," said UTEP President Diana Natalicio.

A majority of colleges and universities across the country are slashing budgets and cutting their faculty staff, but the University of Texas at El Paso is looking to hire 30 professors.

Natalicio tells ABC-7 that with a "tier one" status on the horizon, the state will guarantee funds to keep the university growing. With other colleges shrinking, that means UTEP will be attracting faculty who might have never heard of the university in the past, according to Natalicio.

High-caliber professors means more research - and more grant money - which makes for a better education. "We have a lot more of our UTEP people playing at the national level, than we did ten years ago," said Natalicio.

Since the overwhelming majority of students enrolled at the university are local students, Natalicio believes the "tier one" status will lead to a more educated community. "Graduates are going to see the value of their degrees go up because UTEP will be better recognized as a quality 'tier  one' status university," Natalicio said.

Liu likens the situation to an investment.  "It's like buying a stock, if some stock is already on a very high level, it may be too late for you to buy it," she said. "I know it's not that high yet, but it's on that upward trend."

Still, the university is committed to keep certain things from changing too much. "We are totally committed to continue our efforts to create access for people in this region to get an education," Natalicio said, "The same first-generation, low-income students that we've always tried to serve."

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Written for KVIA.com by News/Web Producer Joe Villasana