Lawmakers introduced bills in both chambers Thursday intended to close a loophole that enables for-profit schools to take advantage of G.I. Bill aid to rake in federal money.

Two of the sponsors — Senator Tom R. Carper, Democrat of Delaware, and Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California and a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — told reporters the law would focus on for-profit schools that accept federal funds to educate veterans but sometimes leave them unprepared to enter the civilian workforce.

“It is clear that the business model of some of these for-profit colleges is to become totally reliant on federal funds, making billions in the process and spending a paltry amount on actually educating the students they spend billions to entice,” Ms. Speier said.

In 1998, Congress instituted the so-called “90-10 rule,” requiring that for every nine dollars of tuition covered by federal aid, there should be at least one dollar coming from private funds.

The law would close a loophole that counts military education benefits differently from Department of Education aid, which allowed schools to circumvent the rule by designating veterans’ education benefits as if the money were not paid by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Education said on Friday that it would fine Washington State University $82,500 for failing to disclose two sexual assaults in 2007 and for maintaining insufficient campus-safety policies.

The university's three violations of the main federal law on campus-crime reporting, the Clery Act, endangered Washington State students and employees who rely on campus-crime statistics and statements, a federal education official wrote in a letter to the college's president, Elson S. Floyd.

The university vehemently disagrees with the department's finding and will appeal the fine, said a Washington State spokesman, Darin Watkins.

In March, Virginia Tech was fined less, $55,000, for failing to quickly warn students in 2007 about a gunman who ended up killing 33 people. The largest Clery Act fine, $350,000, was imposed on Eastern Michigan University three years ago for failing to alert the campus that a student had been murdered.

The Washington State fine stems from the Education Department's decision to randomly review dozens of colleges as part of an effort to monitor Clery Act compliance. Three universities, including Washington State, were found to have committed violations during 2007.

The US government has fined Virginia Tech university $55,000 (£34,413) for failing promptly to warn students at the start of a 2007 shooting massacre.

The education department said the school broke federal law when it waited two hours after the first killings to warn students of a gunman on campus.

The university in Blacksburg, Virginia, said it would appeal against the fine.

In April 2007, 32 were killed when a student went on a two-and-a-half-hour rampage before killing himself.

"Because Virginia Tech failed to notify its students and staff of the initial shootings on a timely basis, thousands continued to travel on campus, without warning," the department wrote in a letter announcing the fine.

In what amounts to a “Race to the Top” for higher education, the Obama administration is offering competitive grants and a new “tool kit” to help states increase their college completion rates.

During a news briefing Monday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the program, to be formally announced Tuesday by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., would include only incentives — no “sticks” — for reforms aimed at helping the administration meet its goal of adding eight million college graduates by 2020.

According to Mr. Duncan, the campaign will include a new $20 million Comprehensive Grant Program for states that carry out plans intended to increase their graduation rates.

In addition, as part of its 2012 budget, the administration has proposed the $123 million “First in the World” initiative for programs that hold down tuition, increase completion rates and move students through college faster. Last, the $50 million College Completion Incentive Grants would reward states and schools for reforms that produce more college graduates.