A university's selling point to an employer is their degree ensures a student knows the material and can reason about it. That is the practical point of academ

A university's selling point to an employer is their degree ensures a student knows the material and can reason about it. That is the practical point of academic ethics. If a student cheats, sure they may get a decent job, although their lack of competence will eventually catch up with them. However, what they've done will impact the worth of everyone with a degree. So, getting a degree by cheating is essentially stealing from those who got the degree ethically.