  We consider the differential equations y''=\lambda_0(x)y'+s_0(x)y, where
\lambda_0(x), s_0(x) are C^{\infty}-functions. We prove (i) if the differential
equation, has a polynomial solution of degree n >0, then \delta_n=\lambda_n
s_{n-1}-\lambda_{n-1}s_n=0, where \lambda_{n}=
\lambda_{n-1}^\prime+s_{n-1}+\lambda_0\lambda_{n-1}\hbox{and}\quad
s_{n}=s_{n-1}^\prime+s_0\lambda_{k-1},\quad n=1,2,.... Conversely (ii) if
\lambda_n\lambda_{n-1}\ne 0 and \delta_n=0, then the differential equation has
a polynomial solution of degree at most n. We show that the classical
differential equations of Laguerre, Hermite, Legendre, Jacobi, Chebyshev (first
and second kind), Gegenbauer, and the Hypergeometric type, etc, obey this
criterion. Further, we find the polynomial solutions for the generalized
Hermite, Laguerre, Legendre and Chebyshev differential equations.
