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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Jamie Roberts

Dolly Parton offers to pay for all Dollywood employees to go to college

Dolly Parton has earned huge applause from her fans after promising to foot the bill for any of her Dollywood employees who want to go to College.

The legendary country singer, 76, and her Dollywood Parks & Resorts complex in Tennessee announced on Tuesday the ambitious plans to cover the entire cost of tuition and books for "any employee who chooses to pursue further education".

According to a WHJL-11 report on Tuesday, the company has offered the brilliant incentive to all of its 11,000 staff across its 25 US-based attractions, no matter if they're full-time, part-time or a seasonal worker.

Dollywood Company president Eugene Naughton said: "When our hosts strive to grow themselves, it makes our business and our community a truly better place."

Herschend Enterprise, who are the joint owners of Dollywood alongside the singer, said they encourage all employees to follow their dreams.

All workers for Dollywood are being offered free college tuition (Getty Images)

The company's CEO, Andrew Wexler, released a statement which said: "We care about our hosts’ development and we want their future to grow because of love, not loans."

Fans of the singer were quick to pile on the praise for the star, with many joking she should run for presidency.

Actress Rosie O'Donnell was among those showing appreciation and took to Twitter to say: "She's an angel #DollyParton"

One fan quote tweeted her comment and said: "You go Dolly. She is absolutely above all the rest," alongside a string of clapping hand emojis.

Congressional candidate Charles Booker of Kentucky added: "Dolly, you truly are appreciated."

And influencer Matt Bernstein commented that the star and her company were doing "more for students" than the current US president Joe Biden.

Dolly has previously explained how a lot of her hit songs were based on truth.

In fact, the blonde icon revealed how Jolene was penned as a mysterious red-headed woman became very flirty with hubby Carl Dean at a bank near where the couple lived.

Fans and famous faces have praised the star's offer (Redferns via Getty Images)

"A lot of my songs are based on some truth and Jolene was about a girl that was flirting with my husband back then," she once explained.

"She was working down at the bank and he was spending a little more time down there than he should. So I put a stop to that!

"I wrote the song about Jolene and I did a lot of banking after that, but not with her bank."

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