Most obviously, cheating is unfair to honest students. A cheater receives through deception what honest students work hard for; and in classes graded on a curve, he lowers their grades to boot. Cheating also cheapens the diploma. How valuable can a sheepskin be if so many people receive it under false pretenses? But the devaluation is not just figurative. An Iowa State degree is a valuable commodity, only if people trust that it is a mark of excellence. That trust is undermined as people become aware of the amount of cheating on campus.
But more disturbing is that academic dishonesty perverts the central mission of a university . . . An education is much more than just learning facts. And it's more than mastering the ability to solve problems, to understand complicated issues, to detect bullshit, and to articulate your views. A quality education requires a commitment to an ever deeper understanding of self and of one's place in the social and natural world; and when successful, it leads to a critical examination of the assumptions that guide one's life.
The Cheater cheats himself of an education. His actions imply that he either does not understand what a quality education is or does not care about getting one...