Dollywood offers to pay tuition for employees

As if we needed another reason to love Dolly Parton. The country singer’s beloved amusement park, Dollywood Parks and Resorts, announced it will offer to pay 100% of their employees’ tuition if they wish to further their education, according to the website. 

"The education benefit package is available to all team members on the first day of their employment. It will allow employees at all levels to pursue their personal and professional dreams," the website said.

The resort will also cover any additional fees and textbook costs. 

"Our goal at Dollywood Parks and Resorts is to provide the best possible experience for both our guests and our hosts," Eugene Naughton, president of The Dollywood Company, said in a news release. "We know when our hosts are happy and feel cared for that they are going to pass that along to our guests. The creation of the program allows another avenue for us to care for our hosts. " 

"One of The Dollywood Foundation’s key tenets is to ‘learn more.’ This program is created with that very tenet in mind. We want our hosts to develop themselves through advanced learning to fulfill the foundation’s other tenets: care more, dream more, and be more," Naughton added. 

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FILE - The entrance to Dollywood is viewed on Oct. 18, 2016 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

The program, called GROW U., will officially kick off on Feb. 24 and all seasonal, part-time and full-time employees are welcome to enroll. 

"When our hosts strive to grow themselves, it makes our business and our community a truly better place," Naughton said. "We care about our hosts’ development and we want their future to grow because of love—not loans." 

Parton is known for her philanthropic efforts whether it's encouraging young people to read through her Imagination Library campaign to funding COVID-19 vaccine research. 

"My dream was to make as many people happy as I could in this life," Parton said on her website.

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