“But is the aid going to increase with loans? OP’s parents might (rightly) not want to take out extra loans to pay for something they don’t consider necessary.”
No. Student loans should’ve already been included in the original package, and USC does not pack in parent loans. They should increase the aid w/grants only, since these costs are considered standard/not extra.
OP should call the financial aid office and ask them. I’m pretty sure they’ll give him/her a similar answer.
This is not an issue, really. The EFC determined by USC should not change when adjusting the COA from “commuter” to “resident.”
Only thing that could be a problem is if the OP mistakenly has a “resident” COA on their current/initial package. Their current aid would decrease once USC sees that the OP’s living with parents. I hope this is not the case, since it’d mean that the student has an incorrect package/wouldn’t be able to pay even the tuition.