NASHVILLE (AP) - Brad Paisley's country music career started in earnest at Belmont University. He's taking steps to make sure someone else gets the same chance.

Paisley has endowed a scholarship at the Nashville, Tenn., school's Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, where he graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in business administration after majoring in music business.

The West Virginia native got his first taste of Nashville at Belmont and met many of the friends who would become collaborators over the course of his career. He's gone on to win Grammy Awards and Country Music Association entertainer of the year in a hit-filled career that's taken him to the pinnacle of country music.

Paisley says in a Wednesday news release that "this is the least I can do in appreciation."

The scholarship will go to a deserving student with a demonstrated need.