What consequences are there if, having already graduated and received my degree, I do not pay up my tuition fees? Background: I just graduated from a US university. I have also received my diploma (both in paper form mailed to me and also in electronic form) certifying that I have received such-and-such a degree.

However, I have not paid the tuition fees for the very last semester in which I enrolled.

I do not plan to have any dealings with that university ever again. Nor do I intend to work in academia. 

It appears that eventually they will put some sort of "financial hold" on my student account, but given that I already have what I need (namely the degree), I don't really care about that. 

So my question is this: What consequences are there if I never pay those tuition fees? For example, can they (or will they) revoke my degree? Are they likely to pursue me for the money?

New information added: I originally requested that morality and ethics be left out of this question, but it seems clear that with some exceptions (notably NateEldredge), this request has been ignored. So I would like to elaborate a little more on my situation, in the hopes that the focus will be moved a little further away from calling me a thief and instead answering my above questions. 

(1) I last took classes in the spring semester and was supposed to graduate then, but because of a mistake on my part, I missed the deadline to apply for graduation that semester. And so in order to graduate, I had to register for the summer semester as well. I did not take any classes in the summer semester. I did not take up any additional resources during the summer semester, unless you include whatever little manpower was required to process my graduation. Nonetheless I was fully billed for it, as if I took a full load of classes. 

(2) This is perhaps controversial, but I personally view the US higher education system as being costly to the point of injustice. I have already paid >$200k in tuition and fees into the system and now I am being billed for another semester in which I took no classes. 

The money is not the issue. If I go ahead with this plan, I will donate every penny of that semester's worth of tuition fees to some worthy charity instead. The issue is that I am disgusted with having to give away even more of my money to the bloated, inefficient, "not-for-profit" US higher education system. 

Some here have called me a thief. But I prefer to see this as a small act of civil disobedience---akin to what Aaron Swartz did, when he "stole" millions of articles from JSTOR and refused to compensate JSTOR for the "damages". (Note: By no means do I consider this potential act of mine as great and noble as Swartz's; I'm just trying to draw an analogy here.) 

(3) BTW, I am an international student. So there is the option of me simply leaving and never returning to the US, in which case the concerns associated with bad credit are moot. Although I would also like to have the option of staying in the US, and so I do welcome and appreciate the answers given thus far regarding credit issues.
Some universities (perhaps most) will refuse to provide transcripts for students who owe money. Example.

This can be a serious problem for you. Some employers insist upon an official transcript as a condition of employment. Your  diploma or similar certificate  will not suffice; the  employer wants a document directly from the university, which has not passed through your hands (to avoid the risk of you falsifying it). If the university won't send a transcript because you didn't pay them, too bad, no job for you.

Also, you say you are done with academia, but if you should change your mind someday: US  graduate programs generally require an official transcript from your undergraduate university as a condition of admission. So no grad school for you, either.

Academic matters aside, the university also has all the same options that would be available to any other creditor. This side of things is more on topic for our sibling site, http://money.stackexchange.com, but as a partial overview:


They can report you to a credit agency, which will damage your credit score and make it difficult or impossible for you to get credit cards, car loans, mortgages, etc. Bad credit can also keep you from getting a job in certain industries, especially defense and other work that requires a security clearance.
They can refer your account to a collection agency, who will try pretty hard to bother you until you pay.
In principle, they could sue you, and they'd almost certainly win, as they can easily prove you owe the money. This would enable them to get a court order to seize your assets (eg take money directly from your bank account) or garnish your wages (take money directly from your paycheck).