Chelgren told the Des Moines Register that the school ran "ran Sizzler restaurants and a few other different restaurants." He said he spent a few months in the training so that he could be promoted.

"I had to take their school and their classes and they gave me their degree – as they termed it – and I have used that terminology," he told the newspaper. "I was told, 'Well, it is probably better terminology to say 'certificate,' " so regardless of however they want to do it, that is the semantics (NBC News is) arguing."

Chelgren made headlines this month as the author of Senate File 288, proposed legislation that seeks to "require partisan balance" of faculty members who work at higher-ed institutions that are governed by the Iowa Board of Regents, according to its text.

Those schools include the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

Under the proposed bill, a job candidate who is seeking a position as a professor or instructor would not be hired if his or her political party affiliation on their hire date would "cause the percentage of the faculty belonging to one political party to exceed by ten percent the percentage of the faculty belonging to the other political party," the text states.