Having a university library full of the classics, authors? letters, literary criticism, first editions and the like may sound like heaven, but such fancies don't pay the bill. Why not put your love of words to a good use and begin applying now for

A college's English department is the most fertile source of scholarships for English majors. Most schools have English scholarships will have many awards honoring alumni and faculty. These awards may be one time gifts or renewable year after year.

English scholarships don't just reward strong academic performance. Many English departments have awards based on student writing. Many schools give cash prizes for the top student short fiction or poetry work. To earn these scholarships, students must submit a work of creative writing along with the traditional scholarship application. Other types of awards include scholarships based on literary analysis and criticism. Your paper on Shakespeare from last semester may qualify you for one of these awards.

These writing-based awards are usually open only to students currently enrolled in a college's program. Incoming freshmen may earn writing-based English scholarships, but these are less common. Check your application form to see if writing samples, such as papers from high school English classes, may be submitted with your application.

If you are considering applying for you may want to hang on to the work you do in high school English classes. If you are still in high school, contact potential colleges and ask them about English scholarships offered. They can tell you now if you need to save your work from high school classes, or if you need to do some creative writing on your own.

Finding and applying for scholarships can be a choir. But for budding English majors the chance to write for big bucks should be a pleasurable task.