STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Teen childbearing costs taxpayers at least $9.1 billion a year in the United States, according to a study published by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Dr. Patricia Koch is the director of newly formed Pennsylvania Learning Academy for Sexuality Education, or PLASE.

It is a program aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates by “helping young people develop into sexually literate and healthy adults.”

Koch said there is a lot of speculation as to why teen pregnancy numbers are on the rise again.

She said researchers and epidemiologists are looking at abstinence-only education.

"The focus on abstinence-only education has left young people unprepared to face the decisions they have to make. If they are no longer practicing abstinence they are not prepared to use birth control or condoms. That increases their risk of unintended pregnancy as well as sexually transmissible infections," said the Penn State professor of biobehavioral health.

Teen pregnancy rates vary across the commonwealth, according to Koch, with rural communities among the highest.

Koch is convinced educating adults on how to handle the topic will ultimately reduce sexual concerns.