The Real Collegio Carlo Alberto, inaugurated in 1838, was founded by King Carlo Alberto to prepare young men "of noble and civil condition" destined in particular to undertake military and administrative careers. The College was entrusted to the Regular Clerics of Saint Paul (better known as the Barnabites), a choice that confirmed the ties this religious order had already established with the Savoys in their role as confessors, spiritual guides and educators. The Barnabites conducted the College for 160 years during which it was a highly respected centre of learning. An association of alumni (Unione degli ex-convittori) is still active today.

Among its more distinguished educators were the teacher and scientist Father Francesco Denza, a pioneering figure in the field of meteorology, founder of the Bullettino Meteorologica dell'Osservatorio del R. Collegio Carlo Alberto di Moncalieri and of the Italian Meteorological Society, Father Luigi Bruzza, scholar of the ancient classics, Father Giuseppe Colombo, teacher and impassioned historian.

The Real Collegio ended its scholastic activity at the end of the 1997/1998 school year, with a final graduating class of the middle school. A reduction in the demand for that particular form of education coupled with growing running costs led the Barnabites to look for other tenants in order to be able to keep the building complex alive. Its educational vocation was respected with the creation, the following year, of the Collegio Carlo Alberto Consortium and, in 2004, with the Colllegio Carlo Alberto Foundation.