Project Midstate Student Support for Teaching (MSS) (http://www.uis.edu/projectmss/) is an initiative at University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) designed to increase the number of first generation and diverse teacher candidates in area school districts. Students accepted into MSS receive full tuition waivers, a $200 book stipend per semester, and academic support. Key findings from the document review of 424 student records show that 94% of the candidates came from the targeted areas and 83% were non-white. The teacher test passing rate was 96% with an average score above the Minimum Passing Level set by the state. Since 2012, all initial inquiries resulted in official university enrollments. Five of the 424 candidates became principals and six took master's-level education courses. While not part of the target group of recent high school graduates, some older candidates also enrolled in MSS. These older candidates (enrolling after the age of 23) graduated with GPA's statistically higher than the younger age group (p=0.04) and were more likely to graduate than their younger classmates. The older candidates were also more likely to complete student teaching requirements, suggesting that more of the older group actually went into teaching. In large part, the findings corroborate the potential value of teacher development programs like MSS to diversify the future teacher pool. The study also suggests ways that MSS may be improved to further its mission in the future.