- Dollywood employees will receive free tuition and books for over 100 programs, according to CBS News.
- The policy was announced by parent Herschend Enterprises, which operates the park in collaboration with the singer.
- The move fits the pattern of the star's recent philanthropic efforts.
If you're going to work at Dollywood, you'll have the opportunity to get educated — for free.
Herschend Enterprises, the parent company of Dollywood, Dolly Parton's Pigeon Forge, Tennessee theme park, announced on Tuesday it would provide 100% of tuition and books for over 100 degree, diploma and certificate programs, according to CBS News.
"Our team members' success is our success – and that's why we're thrilled to make this benefit available to all, regardless of their role in the company and without the burden of debt," Andrew Wexler, CEO of Herschend Enterprises, said in a statement.
Dollywood is "operated in partnership with entertainment legend Dolly Parton" by Herschend Enterprises. The company owns a variety of enterprises and entertainment venues, such as Silver Dollar City in Missouri and the Harlem Globetrotters.
Herschend said the program will be accessible to its 11,000 eligible employees, whether seasonal, part-time, or full-time, including those at the country singer's Dollywood. The park's account tweeted about the news on Wednesday.
The company will call the program GROW U, and it will be run by Guild Education. In a statement, the president of the Dollywood Company, Eugene Naughton, said the policy jibes with the park's values, per CBS.
"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," he said.
The program also will offer partial funding of $5,250 per year for "150 additional programs in fields including hospitality, engineering, human resources and art design," according to the release.
Parton hasn't said anything public about the plan, but the star has done plenty of philanthropy, from donating $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center which collaborated with Moderna on the coronavirus vaccine to her children's book charity, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
In an interview with Insider last month, she said she thought Taco Bell should bring back its Mexican Pizza.