In the mid-19th century, Saratov merchant T. E. Zhegin proposed to create a craft school in the city for children from poor families and expressed his willingness to invest significant funds in it. His proposal reached Emperor Alexander II, who supported this idea in 1862. However, the organization of the school was delayed due to the sluggishness of local authorities. After the assassination attempt on the tsar on April 4, 1866, carried out by native of Saratov province D. V. Karakozov, local officials became active to restore the prestige of the region and decided to name the school in honor of Alexander II.

The school building was constructed in 1869 on Bolshaya Kostrizhnaya Street on the site of the former estate of landowner Gladkov. General Unkovsky purchased the land for construction, and Zhegin donated 3000 rubles. Among the benefactors was also Moscow patron P. M. Tretyakov. On August 30, 1871, the school opened, and the next day it was visited by Alexander II, who was traveling along the Volga.

The first group of students included children from low-income families who studied in the tailoring and bookbinding departments. The school also trained singers for church choirs. Later, training began for foundry workers, locksmiths, turners, blacksmiths, and electricians, which contributed to providing the city's industry with qualified personnel. It is known that the forged fence of Lipki Park was made by students of this school in 1908. In 1873, a chapel in the name of Alexander Nevsky was opened at the school with funds from S. N. Parusinova.

With the arrival of Soviet power in 1919, the school was transformed into polytechnic courses and later into a vocational school named after A. V. Lunacharsky, which before the Great Patriotic War became craft school No. 2 for metalworkers. In January 1945, an industrial technical school was opened on its basis by order of the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, becoming one of the leading institutions in the country. Students of the technical school participated in the improvement of the Saratov embankment, greening Sokolovaya Hill, harvesting, and constructing various facilities. In 1992, the technical school was transformed into an industrial-pedagogical college with training in nine specialties.

In the 1980s, an unsuccessful attempt to add two floors led to the destruction of the building and its demolition. In 2001, an exact copy of the historical building was constructed. In 2011, the college became part of the Saratov State Technical University named after Yu. A. Gagarin.

In the 1950s, Yu. A. Gagarin, the first human in space, studied at the technical school. A bust of him has been installed at the college, a People's Museum operates in the neighboring building, and the facade of the new dormitory building is decorated with a memorial plaque. Among the graduates are also A. N. Zauloshnov, A. G. Yurlov, I. V. Yakunin, and V. M. Ryazanov.