Sure they were. College has changed a lot, as has college enrollment; instead of the top 10%, colleges now take the top 40% or so, close to the fraction that graduated high school in the 1960s. Courses that used to be taught in high school are now taught in undergrad, and what used to be covered in undergrad is put off until grad school.
What we call "gifted" today was what we called "college bound" back then.
What we call "gifted" today was what we called "college bound" back then.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/184260/educational-attai...